Southern Maryland Dining Guide How To Pick & Eat Hard Crabs
WHAT!?! You live
right here in Southern Maryland and can't pick a crab? We can't have that! If
you've spent any time here at all, you know that one of the greatest joys of summer is
catching and eating crabs, washed down with a big pitcher of beer or iced tea. So
whether you buy a bushel from the guy on the roadside or head down to your local
crabhouse, here's how you can pick crabs like a native:
Tools needed:
wooden mallet (this is what the pros use, not those silly
nutcracker-looking things)
strong fingers (this is a no-utensil dining experience)
Bactine (to put on the cuts you will inevitably get from
the shell)
Condiments:
malt vinegar (put it in little cups for dunking)
melted butter (for those who don't like vinegar;
BEWARE: makes you look like a city-slicker)
Old Bay (naturally)
First step:
Grab that rascal by the body and break off his claws and legs. Set the body aside
and crack the claws with a small wooden mallet. Dig the meat from the claws, dip in
condiment and eat. Take the legs and bend them in half until they pop, then suck the
meat out.
Step 2:
Flip the crab over and you'll see what looks like a little pull-tab on his
underbelly. Just like you were opening a beer or soda can, pull down to remove the
apron.
Step 3: Hold the crab in
both hands and stick your thumbs between the top and bottom shells, at the bottom where
the apron used to be, and pull them apart. Prepare to see some really weird looking
stuff.
Step
4: Scrape out anything that looks like you don't want to eat it. This
means the yellow gunk (mustard), spongy lungs, deadman's fingers, etc. Just dump it
on the table and don't worry about propriety; if you're with veteran pickers,
they'll be doing the same thing.
Step 5: Grab the cleaned crab and break him
in half. He'll pop easily right down the middle. This picture shows some
rookie using kitchen shears for this, but you should just use both hands. You'll see
crab meat peeking out of the sides of what looks like little tubes of membrane.
Step 6:
"Pick" the crab. Dig the meat out of the little membrane tubes with a
little fork or your fingers. Make sure you get it all because you've worked hard to
get this far and you should get some meat out of the deal! If it looks like
nothing's there, look again - this is the sweetest part of the crab and if you were to buy
it in a store it would cost you a fortune.
Although few blue crabs in 1999,
some grew to large size. A six-inch ruler was not long enough to measure
these crabs caught in the Patuxent River.
Location: Patuxent River,
Maryland Photo Date: 1999 July Photographer: Mary Hollinger, NODC biologist, NOAA
And there
you have it! Picking crabs may seem like an awful lot of work for a little bit of
meat, but crab picking is more of an entertainment activity than a feeding-yourself
activity. Surround yourself with a bunch of pals and dig in! De By God,
Cap'n, that's some good eating!
WHAT!?! You live
right here in Southern Maryland and can't pick a crab? We can't have that! If
you've spent any time here at all, you know that one of the greatest joys of summer is
catching and eating crabs, washed down with a big pitcher of beer or iced tea. So
whether you buy a bushel from the guy on the roadside or head down to your local
crabhouse, here's how you can pick crabs like a native:
First step:
Grab that rascal by the body and break off his claws and legs. Set the body aside
and crack the claws with a small wooden mallet. Dig the meat from the claws, dip in
condiment and eat. Take the legs and bend them in half until they pop, then suck the
meat out.
Step 2:
Flip the crab over and you'll see what looks like a little pull-tab on his
underbelly. Just like you were opening a beer or soda can, pull down to remove the
apron.
Step 3: Hold the crab in
both hands and stick your thumbs between the top and bottom shells, at the bottom where
the apron used to be, and pull them apart. Prepare to see some really weird looking
stuff.
Step
4: Scrape out anything that looks like you don't want to eat it. This
means the yellow gunk (mustard), spongy lungs, deadman's fingers, etc. Just dump it
on the table and don't worry about propriety; if you're with veteran pickers,
they'll be doing the same thing.
Step 5: Grab the cleaned crab and break him
in half. He'll pop easily right down the middle. This picture shows some
rookie using kitchen shears for this, but you should just use both hands. You'll see
crab meat peeking out of the sides of what looks like little tubes of membrane.
Step 6:
"Pick" the crab. Dig the meat out of the little membrane tubes with a
little fork or your fingers. Make sure you get it all because you've worked hard to
get this far and you should get some meat out of the deal! If it looks like
nothing's there, look again - this is the sweetest part of the crab and if you were to buy
it in a store it would cost you a fortune.
Although few blue crabs in 1999,
some grew to large size. A six-inch ruler was not long enough to measure
these crabs caught in the Patuxent River.