Stone Crab

An old recipe within a popular restaurant known as Joe's Stone Crab exists in a place called Miami. They are meant to serve their Stone crab with the best mustard-mayonnaise sauce out there. So to cut to the point and dive right in, here  is the recipe for that sauce, which could also be used for the other variations of crab we have discussed. 

	Colman's dry mustard (1 tablespoon), more if prefer
	Mayonnaise (1 cup)
	Worcestershire sauce (2 teaspoons)
	A-1 sauce (1 tablespoon)
	Light cream (2 tablespoons)
	Salt
	Pepper if you so desire

Description

The shell of the Stone crab is roughly 7.5 to 9 centimetres in length and 10 centimetres wide. They consist of a brown / red colour with grey spots and tan underneath. Their pinchers are very large and are usually of differing sizes and comprise black tips. The females are generally known to have larger shells but the males have larger claws. 

Life History

Stone crabs prefer to eat mollusks and crustaceans and are even known to eat sea grass and the remains of dead animals.

The Stone crab reaches sexual maturity after one year and has incredibly long spawning periods which stretches through all Spring and Summer. During this time, the females produce up to 0.5 and 1 million eggs that result in larvae which in turn results in baby Stone crabs after approximately 36 days. The Stone crab has a life span of 7-8 years.

The beauty of stone crabs is that they have limbs which are able to regenerate. So if the claw is broken correctly, this will heal and eventually result in a new claw after 12 months. Even better than this, each time a new claw is regenerated, the newer claw will be even bigger in size. If restaurants could master this, then the species would never be over fished and would constantly have a fresh supply of crab meat that would be ever lasting.

The Stone crab is typically found at the bottom of bays, oyster reefs and other areas where they can burrow from predators.

Distribution

Mainly found around the Gulf coast. 

How To Eat

In general all crab meat is prepared the same by boiling, steaming, flash frying and other methods. To get the real taste of the Stone crab, cook the traditional way which is consistently mentioned through these pages. Boil in water and serve with melted butter, lemon juice and salt. Brilliant as an appetizer and party food.

Other

The giant claws on this crab are capable of crushing an oyster making their chunky claws valuable for their meat. Many individuals prefer to eat stone crab meat in comparison to Blue crab meat due to its rumoured lobster taste. Most places in America require that only one claw be removed and then returned to the water, reducing the likelihood of over fishing.

How To Cook Stone Crab

Cooking stone crab differs slightly from cooking most other types of crabs, for the simple fact that the method of harvesting is different. Stone crabs are normally not harvested whole, but instead the crab's largest claw is removed and then it is thrown back in the water so a new claw can start to grow. The claws have to be cooked nearly immediately; otherwise the meat will start to stick to the inside of the shell. The ones you buy will most likely therefore already be cooked and only need to be warmed before you consume them. They can, however, also be eaten cold. Below are some instructions on how to cook stone crab.

Step One:

Boil six cups of water with a pinch or two of salt. Once it has reached cooking point, turn off the heat.

Step Two:

Once the water is not boiling any longer, immerse the crab claws in the water for at least five minutes. Do not put the claws into boiling water - this will dry out the meat.

Step Three:

While you are waiting for the crab claws to cool down, put two table spoons of butter in a microwave dish and mix with some garlic, salt or other spices, according to your taste. Microwave for a minute or two until the butter and garlic/spices have melted together properly.

Step Four:

Remove the crab legs from the water and drain off all excess water. Be very careful here: those legs get extremely hot and you can seriously burn yourself if your touch them while piping hot. You could hold them under a running tap for a minute or two rinse them off and also bring down the temperature to a manageable level.

Step Five:

Serve the legs with a slice of lemon and a side of butter (as prepared in step three above). Open the crab legs either with a small hammer, crackers, or kitchen shears.

Some tips:

If you don't live in an area where stone crabs are harvested, it is best to buy them frozen. This way you make sure they are fresh. Otherwise smell them to make sure they don't smell rotten or musty.

If you buy them frozen, keep them frozen until you want to cook them. Otherwise they can be kept in the refrigerator for a limited time.

It takes about seven large crab legs to get one kilogram of crab meat. Now that you know how easy it is to cook stone crab, we would like to bet that you are soon going to surprise your guests with a delicious meal of cooked stone crab legs!