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Mike's Bar & Crab House
Crabs
From bushel
basket to steamer! To serving
tray and you!!
Blue
Crab Anatomy - learn the different parts of the blue crab.
Blue
Crab Identificaton - How to tell the male from the female
How to Shell and Eat Crabs - Marylander's are born with the crab gene but
for those who transplant into the sate, here are some tips to help you look like
a natural born pro at the table.
The
Maryland Blue Crab - The blue crab's scientific name translates as
"beautiful swimmer that is savory." Blue crab meat sometimes is
compared to the sweetness of lobster meat; the flavor best appreciated by
cracking and eating steamed hardshells or feasting on softshells. Crab is
prepared in restaurant and home kitchens in innumerable ways, steamed or sauteed,
as Maryland Crab Cakes and Crab Imperial, or in crab soup and crab dip.
Maryland
Department of Natural Resources: Blue Crab Facts -
Facts, figures and interesting information about the blue crab.
Terminology
Peelers are about to
"peel" their hard outer shell. The paper-thin new shell makes the crab
very easy to eat, providing a delicacy to diners without the work of picking the
sweet, white meat from a typically hard shell
Pink Sign is a pink dot that appears on a crab's
back fin about a week before it begins to molt. It is the appearance of a new
shell inside the one the crab is about to shed.
Busting describes a crab that is emerging from its
old shell.
Softshells have emerged from their old shells and
now have a very thin, soft shell. Softshells are delicacies that are eagerly
awaited by crab lovers each season. Softshell season is marked by the first full
moon in May. It continues through early fall.
Papershell crabs are softshells whose shells have
stiffened some.
Buckram crabs are at a stage following papershell
when the shell is starting to harden but is still pliable.
Hardshells have hardened shells, usually within 4
days after shedding.
Sponge Crab is a female crab that has an egg mass
on her abdomen. Sponge crabs cannot be harvested so as to ensure many productive
crab harvests in the future.
Keeper is a crab that is big enough to keep,
usually around 5 inches.
Doublers (also Buck and Rider) are two mating
crabs, moving as a unit, with the male above and female below.
Picking is the art of eating a steamed hardshell
crab.
Types of Crabmeat
Lump are the largest pieces of meat from the body,
adjacent to the backfin. The most expensive form of crabmeat.
Backfin is the white body meat including lump and
large flakes. Used for crab cakes and crab imperial.
Special are flakes of white body meat other than
lump. Good for crab cakes, soups, casseroles and dips.
Claw meat is brownish meat from the claws. Best for
soups and dips, its the least expensive type of crab meat.
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