Lump
or backfin - large, whole lumps of meat from the body of the crab. This is usually the most expensive meat and
is often used in salads and special dishes.
Flake
(regular) - all meat from the body portion of the crab except lump.
Claws
- all meat form the claw appendages.
Crab
claws - claws of the crab with the shell partially removed. These are most often used as appetizers.
Pasteurized
crabmeat - canned lump crabmeat, which is found in the refrigerated section of
the supermarket. It will keep for about
6 months, unopened, in the refrigerator.
Once opened, the crabmeat will stay fresh 3 to 5 days in the
refrigerator.
And
then there are 'live crab' and here is how you handle cooking and cleaning
them. The live crab are put into a pot
of boiling water and cooked 8-10 minutes, depending on the size. The shells will turn a bright orange color
when done. Drain in let cool enough to
handle.
Leaving
the legs on, break the claws from the crabs at the body. All meat in the claws is edible, dark but
tasty. Crack claws with a hammer,
nutcracker or better yet, a store-bought claw cracker. To clean the body of the crab, the secret is
a sharp knife. Remove the shell by
holding the crab firmly underneath and pull up on one of the points of the
shell. You will then see the fat and
gills. Scrape away the yellowish fat
form the middle cavity. The fat is
edible, but too oily for most. Scrape
away the feathery gray gills. Cut off
the walking legs well into the body.
There is very little meat where the legs join the body. On large crabs, save the legs since there is
good meat in them.
With
the cavity up, slice through the sides horizontally. Lay knife blade flat in cavity and then cut
off.. This is really easy to cut and
leaves the body of the crab exposed for easy picking with the point of your
knife or fingers.
This
method of crab-picking came from an old cookbook that had been separated from
its cover, not allowing me to even know its name, and really in pretty bad
condition. But to me, it's condition has
nothing to do with the wonderful recipes and tips that I found among its pages.
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