A Simple Recipe Full of Flavor Potential
Preperation Time: Overnight (Defrosting) Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes
Serves: 2 Starters or 1 Main
A know what you’re thinking…a drunk crab? These critters walk sideways when they’re sober. Well, the good news is, we’re not just inviting some crabs around for a mad night on the sauce, although a dipping sauce of some kind may well be involved.
This recipe is all about infusing the crab meat with delicious alcoholic flavors. It’s easy to make, only requires a few ingredients, and it’s incredibly open-ended, allowing you to modify it however you see fit — perfect!
Traditionally, drunken crab is eaten raw like sushi, which means using fresh (preferably alive) crab is essential, but seeing as not everyone has access to such fresh seafood, I thought I’d share a cooked crab recipe. That way, everyone can enjoy it.
What You’ll Need for This Drunken Crab Recipe
I’m going to keep things nice and simple for this recipe, but I’ll also be giving advice on slight deviations as well, so you can try a couple of different things when the feeling strikes.
Ingredients
- 3 x crab clusters – As I mentioned earlier, if you’re taking the raw route and simply involves marinating crab in booze for a while, you’ll need live crab. For this particular recipe; however, any quality frozen crab will be fine.
I’ll be using snow crab clusters as you can get two starters out of them, or if you’re starving, a generous main for one.
For a full crab version of this recipe, I’d recommend trying flower crabs. They’re not quite as meaty as a lot of others, but what meat they do have is sweet and succulent.
- Booze (a few bottles) – I’ll be using bog-standard beer for this recipe. It doesn’t really matter which. If you like to drink a particular beer, chances are, you’ll LOVE eating it too! It can literally be whatever…Bud, Coors, Miller — it’s up to you.
If you want to get a little more adventurous, I recommend either dark rum or Chinese rose essence wine. The latter is flammable, meaning you can drizzle some over the crab and flambé it, leading to amazing flavors and an impressive kitchen show for onlookers.
- 3 x Lemons – As I’m sure you’re already aware, lemon and seafood is, well…it’s just (chef’s kiss). You’ll need these three lemons cut in half.
- A head of garlic – It sounds like a lot, but this is just going to simmer away in the beer with the crab and take the flavor profile to the next level.
- A bunch of green (spring) onions – These are going in the pot as well, but I also like to chop some up finely to use as a garnish or even to mix into a little pot of butter.
- A sprig of fresh parsley – Much like lemon, parsley and seafood just gels. I use it in the pot and as part of the garnish.
- A teaspoon of cracked black pepper – The pepper adds a welcome kick to the delectable crab meat and acts as a nice counterbalance to the butter we’re inevitably going to slather on.
If you want to kick things up a notch, I recommend adding half a teaspoon of chili flakes to the pot as well — yum!
- A sprig of fresh dill – A common ingredient in crab cakes, it goes down a treat in this boozy banquet.
- A sprig of fresh tarragon – Another staple of awesome crab cakes.
- 3 x cilantro leaves – You don’t want too much of this, as it’s a very overpowering flavor.
- Half a cup of chicken stock – It sounds crazy, but trust me, it’s going to taste epic.
- Half a teaspoon of coarse flake salt – Just as a little flavor enhancer.
Side-Note – It’s best if you use fresh herbs and spices for seasoning, but feel free to use your favorite seafood dry mix. Concoctions such as Urban Accents Fisherman’s Wharf already contain most of the seasonings we’re using here today.
Equipment
- A pot large enough to fit the crab in…that’s literally it. Well, maybe some pincers to retrieve the crab from the pot.
Method
Step 1. Defrost the snow crab clusters.
I like to do this in my refrigerator overnight, so I’m not left waiting with a rumbling tum when it comes to dinner time.
Step 2. Expose the crab meat.
We’re not scraping the meat out, just simply snipping the shard shell with kitchen shears to expose it to the booze.
Step 3. Get boozy!
Pour your beer (or other booze) into your pot, and place it on a medium-high burner to gently heat.
Step 4. Add the herbs and spices.
Once you see some bubbles in the booze, it’s time to add all our flavorings to the mix. That includes the head of garlic (halved), most of the green onions, the tarragon, the parsley, the cilantro, the pepper, and the salt. We’re also going to squeeze half a lemon’s worth of juice in too.
Step 5. Add the half cup of chicken stock.
Adding in your chicken stock will cool the mix down a little, which is exactly what we need before adding our crab.
Step 6. Bring the crab into the equation.
Carefully lower your crab clusters with exposed meat into your pot, cover, then bring it to the boil on a medium-high burner. Let the crab stew in the bubbling brew for about 5 minutes.
Step 7. Serve it up!
Use your pincers to remove the crab clusters from the booze. Assemble them on your plates accompanied by a pot of butter and garnished with some fresh parsley and a sprinkle of finely chopped green onions — beautiful!
Step 8. (optional) Save the booze!
There’s no need to waste that delicious concoction, especially now it’s infused with the crab flavors too. Why not strain and keep it for use in a tasty chowder during the course of the week.
Final Thoughts
Just because this recipe is easy, doesn’t mean it’s not brimming with flavor. The beautiful thing about its simplicity is that it allows you to get creative with your own flavor combinations, but enough chit-chat. It’s time for you to tuck into that delicious crab. Enjoy!
