10 things to know when cooking Dungeness Crab

It's the Dungeness Crab season in the Bay Area and it's time to cook some crab. There are many recipes but my favorite is the Singapore Black Pepper Crab - crab cooked in a buttery sauce with lots of black pepper!

10 things to know about cooking dungeness crab

1/ It is best to cook freshly killed crab. Put the crabs to sleep in ice or in the freezer for half an hour or more. It makes the process more palatable. You can get the fishmonger to kill the crab but you should cook it as soon as possible

2/ Grab the crab on its hind part to avoid getting pinched

3/ For Asians who like crab eggs, take note that buying female dungeness crabs is illegal (for conservation purposes)

4/ How to tell the sex of a crab? turn the crab around and the shell has a triangular flap which you should pull out (it's called the apron). Female crabs have rounded aprons

5/  Remove the top shell from the crab and discard the leaf like spongy gills on the main body of the crab. 

6/ Remember to break off and discard the mandibles (mouth parts) before cooking

7/ If you're boiling the whole crab, it cooks best in salty water. 

8/ As a general rule of thumb, crabs need 15-20 minutes to be cooked (depending on size) Another good gauge is to notice the color. When the shell turns from green or brown to red or orange, it is probably cooked. The final check is to make sure the flesh is opaque white instead of translucent white.  

9/ If you're stir frying the crab, bash the claws with a cleaver or pestle so that the sauce can blend with the meat

10/ The greenish yellow crab butter or crab gut found in the top shell is considered a delicacy but bear in mind it's also where toxins accumulate, so eat it sparingly

To kill a crab, open the apron, the triangular flap at the bottom of the crab (see picture above). It should open easily. You will find a hole where you should stab with your knife for a quick death.

Removing the top shell from the crab body is the most challenging part. Prise open the crab from below the apron.  Remove the spongey gills on the side of the crab.