I first learned to pick crabs when I was about 5 years old. A friend of my dad’s had retired and bought a big house down on one of the rivers feeding into the Chesapeake Bay. He spent his days playing at being a professional waterman. I say playing because unlike the “real” watermen, his family wasn’t going to go hungry if the catch wasn’t good. Mostly he worked crab pots, and he had a big live tank that I loved to watch the crabs in. He would invite big crowds of friends over for crabs, and put on a feast. It’s much easier to show someone how to pick a crab than to describe it, so I will leave that for a different time
Catching crabs is also a lot of fun. My favorite quote from the Messabout was— “So that’s why they are called Blue Crabs!” Yes, they are greenish brown on top, but they have blue markings on their claws and back-fins. Any way you catch the crabs, they taste the same, but the most fun comes when you catch them with a line and a dip net. All you need is a piece of string, some bait, and a long handled net. The most common bait is chicken necks, but my favorite bait is filleted fish carcasses. If you are in an area with a fish cleaning station – and someone is actually catching something — stop by and collect what’s left over. The crabs will love it.
Tie the bait to the string and toss it in the water. Wait a bit for the crabs to find it, and then pull the string in slowly. Sometimes it needs to sit for a bit, because the bigger crabs will chase the smaller ones away after they think it is safe. When the bait is near enough to the dock, surface, or shore to see, scoop it up in your net, crabs and all. Measure the crab to see if it is big enough, and either keep it or throw it back. The crabs you keep can be kept in a shady bucket with no water. Strangely, if you put the crabs in a bucket of water, they are likely to die from lack of oxygen, but if you keep them out of the sun in a dry bucket they will last all day. Crabs can also be put on ice, if they stay up out of any water in the chest.
I learned to cook crabs from my mother’s side of the family. Esther and Carole lived a couple of hours from the water, but would host big crab feasts at their house. They would drive down on Saturday morning to get fresh crabs, straight from the water, and bring back enough bushels for the whole family to enjoy.
Holien Family Blue Crab Recipe
apple cider vinegar
water
kosher salt
Old Bay Seasoning
Mix equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water and put that in the bottom section. Get it to a rolling boil and put in the crabs – one at a time, and alive and kicking. Some people like to stab the crabs with a pick before cooking them, but my family always held that it would let too much water into the crab. Hearing them scramble around the pot was always fun. The critical item about the crabs being alive is that in any batch of crabs, some may die, and crabs can spoil very quickly. My wife opened a dead-cooked crab her very first time, and it was filled with a putrid gray slime that made her give up on picking crabs. Every crab that goes into the pot needs to be moving under its own power, and one crab that is holding onto another crab can make it look like they are both moving. Crabs that have been chilled will slow way down, so when in doubt, hold the crab over the steam for a few seconds, that will wake him up quick! Fill the crab pot about half way up and cover. Sprinkle a mixture of Old Bay seasoning and kosher salt on top, and between layers of crabs if it is a big pot. Steam the crabs until the crabs on the top are bright red. When the ones on the top are done, they are all done. Don’t overcook them! Some recipes will give times, but they are made up. It all depends on how hot your pot is, and how full it is! Serve immediately, piping hot with steamed corn on the cop, melted butter, more Old Bay with salt, and lots of cold beverages. Check the liquid level in the pot, bring it back to a boil, and repeat until the crabs are all cooked. Chill any leftover cooked crabs and pick them the next day for crab-cakes. Now, that’s the family recipe, but I like my crabs a bit spicier and less salty. Old Bay is already about half salt, so I leave the extra salt out, and just sprinkle and serve with Old Bay. It’s a great flavor on anything that you would normally put salt and pepper on. |
Now a crab pot is just a big steamer pot with a lower section
for the liquid and an upper section for the food being steamed. The
critical item here is that you want the crabs to be steamed, not
boiled. You want enough liquid in the bottom section so that
it won’t run dry, but not so much that it goes up into the
top section when at a raging boil. For “Old Bay Seasoning” see—
http://www.mccormick.com/productdetail.cfm?ID=6216
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