Martin Yan - CRACKING CRABS

CRACKING CRABS

Preparing a dish like whole steamed crabs with black bean sauce at home can be intimidating. For one thing, whole fresh crabs can be hard to find; fall and winter usher in the high season for Pacific Dungeness crabs, whereas those on the Atlantic seaboard wait for summer and fall for their blue crabs. And when you do nab crabs, you often pay dearly. What's more, a lot of people shy away from preparing fresh crabs because they're not sure how to get inside that shell. Cracking a whole crab is easy; the only tool you need is a pair of crab or shellfish crackers. If you don't have a pair of those, a nutcracker, clean pliers, or even a good old-fashioned hammer will do.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Slide the crab into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and rinse under cold water.
Hold the crab upside down in your non-writing hand and, with your other hand, grab the underside of the shell right where it joins the upper half of the shell, either at the head or tail end of the crab and pull the lower portion of the shell firmly away from the upper.
Remove the grayish, feathery gills and the intestines and discard them. Keep the remaining soft, yellowish-brown meat- that's the good stuff.
Grasping a crab leg firmly, pull it away from the body at its base; repeat with the remaining legs and claws.
Using a shellfish cracker or other sturdy tool, crack the claw shells to expose the tender white meat within
With your hand or with the shellfish cracker, split the legs in two, freezing the leg meat for removal.