Crab butter
SERVES 2-4 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
12 garlic cloves, peeled zest and juice 1 lemon
6 boiled large or medium blue crabs (ask your fishmonger to clean the crabs), halved
1tsp kosher salt
½tsp cracked black pepper ¼tsp cayenne pepper
2tbsp hot sauce
3 bay leaves
120ml rapeseed oil
115g unsalted butter crusty bread or cooked rice, to serve
Preheat the oven to 230C/210C F/Gas 8. On a chopping board, combine the parsley, 6 of the garlic cloves and the lemon zest. Finely chop them together, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Put the crabs in a large bowl and season with the salt, black pepper, cayenne and hot sauce. Add the bay leaves.
Warm a large cast-iron frying pan or ovenproof sauté pan over a medium-high heat for 3 minutes, then add the oil and the remaining 6 garlic cloves. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, then use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a plate and set aside.
Working in batches to avoid crowding the frying pan, add the crabs to the hot oil and cook for around 3 minutes, until starting to brown on the bottom, then flip and cook for around 3 minutes more, until starting to brown on the second side. Transfer the crabs to a roasting tin and repeat to brown the remaining crabs.
Add 2tbsp of the butter to the frying pan and let it melt. Return the crabs to the frying pan and turn them to coat evenly with the butter. Transfer the crabs and the reserved garlic to the roasting tin and place it in the oven. Roast for around 6 minutes, flipping once after 3 minutes, until the crabs are golden.
Remove the roasting tin from the oven and add the remaining 6tbsp butter and the parsley-garlic mixture to the tin. Toss until the crabs are evenly coated. Season with the lemon juice and serve with crusty bread or rice.
Crab butter
MAKES 475G 910g unsalted butter
455g crab shells, cartilage, and fat (the crab’s top shell isn’t necessary)
In a wide, shallow heavy-bottomed pot or flameproof roasting pan, melt the butter over a low heat. Add the crab shells, cartilage, and fat and use a wooden or stainlesssteel spoon to crush the shells and cartilage. With the heat set as low as possible, let the crab peelings and the butter marinate together for 1 hour. The crab parts will release all their flavour and infuse the butter. Taste the butter; when it has a full crab-forward flavour, it has steeped long enough and is done.
Set a sieve over a bowl and pour the contents of the pot into the sieve. Allow to stand until all the butter has dripped into the bowl (this will take a while). Discard the solids.
Pour the strained butter into small airtight containers. It will keep, chilled, for up to a month or in the freezer for up to a year.
Soft-shell crabs
SERVES 6 peanut oil, for frying
6 large egg yolks
2tbsp hot sauce
2tbsp double cream
540g cornmeal
255g plain flour
130g cornflour
1tbsp kosher salt
¼tsp cracked black pepper ¼tsp cayenne pepper 6 soft-shell crabs, cleaned (available, frozen, from
thefishsociety.co.uk)
To serve butter lemon wedges fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
Fill a large heavy-bottomed pot with 10cm of peanut oil and heat over a medium-high heat to 190C.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, hot sauce and cream. In a shallow bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, cornflour, salt, black pepper and cayenne.
Dip a crab in the egg mixture and allow any excess mixture to drip off, then dredge the crab in the cornmeal mixture, making sure it is completely coated. Be sure to coat under the flaps of the top shell and in the nooks and crannies of the legs and claws. Place the coated crab on a baking tray. Repeat the process with the remaining crabs, keeping the dredged crabs in a single layer, not touching.
Carefully add 2 crabs to the hot oil (they have a lot of moisture in them and will pop when they touch the oil). Fry for around 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer the crabs to kitchen paper to drain. Repeat to fry the remaining crabs in batches of 2, letting the oil come back up to temperature after each batch.
Serve each crab topped with butter, lemon and parsley.