Texas wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:10 am
Intertidale zone ???
PM bugs for a good receipe
Should place the upside down, per bug
Gra
That's a good point. We double checked the depth (>2m) so it's not in the intertidal zone. As you'll see below, recipe can wait. If I ever catch a big mud/sand crab though, will definitely pm for a recipe
After Cajun boiling them, I can see why they have the reputation they have. What makes them unappealing is their spiky appearance as well as seaweed growing all over them, giving a dirty appearance. After a humane quick boil and clean, followed by a full Cajun spice treatment NOLA style, we gave it a try.
There is no nice way of putting it- there is very little crab meat. These crabs have tiny pincers so it's a lot of effort for a little bit of crab meat. What meat we did extract was delicious. Just not much at all and definitely not worth the effort if it's just for meat.
However, we cook a lot so we know to open up the crab and it turns out it has a decent amount of crab roe. For those who are curious, I've attached a link to a summary. It's basically the raw ingredient used for crab caviar which adds a ton of flavor to both French and Japanese soups.
https://onthegas.org/food/crab-roe
Cooked crab roe, like sea urchin uni and fish caviar, are an acquired taste. I personally find the salty flavor essential for a good seafood bisque or an additional "umami" depth in seafood miso soup base. Needless to say, seafood bisque will be on the menu at home for a while
Overall, it was a lot of fun catching them. It's so satisfying to pull up a ring net to see actual real crabs in them
![Dancing :bn:](./images/smilies/banana.gif)
. Great photos to share with family and friends. They do require a lot of work to clean, and there is little meat to be had. However, there is a reasonable amount of roe in each crab and if that's part of your cuisine, then these crabs are an accessible and fresh way to acquire it.