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.

Habitat

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.