NorCal Kayak Anglers
General => Recipes => Topic started by: DiveForFun on December 11, 2017, 10:57:46 AM
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good morning. I have what could be a silly question but one I would like more information on. I've always dove for my food and recently started crabbing from a kayak. I have seen many crab while diving and finally decided now's a good time to go ahead and start harvesting them. anyways my question is regarding the taste. the first time I went out I got red rock crab, Dungeness, and yellow rock crab. (thank you for the post explaining the different rock crabs). I cooked them all together, which I realized was a mistake cause the tastes all mixed, and noticed an almost sour like after taste. I cleaned all the crab prior to cooking them and they were all alive until I cleaned them. the second time I went I only kept 1 red rock crab and some Dungeness. once again the red rock seemed to have a slightly sour aftertaste but I was surprised how much fishier the Dungeness tasted than its store bought counterpart. my question is what do I seem to be doing wrong or different than the stores? I liked the taste of the crab I cooked, at least the Dungeness crab, but I'm wondering how to emulate the taste of the store bought crab. also if someone could help me with how to properly cook red rock crab as I have heard many people say they actually prefer it to Dungeness that would be greatly appreciated. I'm new to this aspect of seafood and would greatly appreciate any help I can get. I really like how helpful everyone in this community seems to be! a big shout out to reel knots for introducing me to this site.
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What’s YOUR recipe?
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I boiled the crab in briny water. I brought the water to a boil, added the cleaned crab, let it boil for about 15-20 minutes, then pulled the crab out and put it in cold water. then I just cracked it and ate it.
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I see and hear most people boil their crab. Am I the only one who steams? I feel that boiling dilutes the taste as it escapes into the water.
All i do is take 1/3 can of beer, a teaspoon of vinegar a few smashed cloves of garlic and toss my crab in. Let that steam for about 15-20 min. I mix rock crab and dungy all the time. I dont notice cross-tasting one bit. Also, i notice the meat to be firmer when steamed. Idk, just my .02
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I’ll give that a shot next time. I was more or less wondering why there was such adiffference between the store bought crab and the ones I brought home. I guess what I’m asking is what do the stores do to prepare there’s?
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I see and hear most people boil their crab. Am I the only one who steams? I feel that boiling dilutes the taste as it escapes into the water.
All i do is take 1/3 can of beer, a teaspoon of vinegar a few smashed cloves of garlic and toss my crab in. Let that steam for about 15-20 min. I mix rock crab and dungy all the time. I dont notice cross-tasting one bit. Also, i notice the meat to be firmer when steamed. Idk, just my .02
I like steaming too. Not sure what your problem is though. I just ate 2 dungies and a red rock from the Bodega area on Friday and had 0 taste problems. Maybe some bad crab? Were they dead before you started cooking? I hear it doesn't take too long for the crab to start breaking down and going bad.
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I see and hear most people boil their crab. Am I the only one who steams? I feel that boiling dilutes the taste as it escapes into the water.
All i do is take 1/3 can of beer, a teaspoon of vinegar a few smashed cloves of garlic and toss my crab in. Let that steam for about 15-20 min. I mix rock crab and dungy all the time. I dont notice cross-tasting one bit. Also, i notice the meat to be firmer when steamed. Idk, just my .02
Add Bay laurel and peppercorns and you're in business. Some of this:
https://www.mccormick.com/zatarains/products/spices-and-seasonings/seafood-boils/concentrated-shrimp-and-crab-boil
if you are feeling adventurous.
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I don't have a ton of experience, but when we boiled crab, we didn't care for it as much. A few weeks ago we got some dungies and a couple red rocks at Bodega. We steamed the fresh crab for around 12 minutes. I had added some crab boil and salt to the water. I was much happier with it steamed and thought it tasted like we had gone to somewhere like Red Lobster. We cooked the red rock in the same pot as the dungeness and I personally thought they tasted pretty similar. I just thought it was more of a pain for getting the meat out of anything else besides the large front claws.
When you say store bought - are you talking about the frozen whole dungeness from somewhere like costco?
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I see and hear most people boil their crab. Am I the only one who steams? I feel that boiling dilutes the taste as it escapes into the water.
All i do is take 1/3 can of beer, a teaspoon of vinegar a few smashed cloves of garlic and toss my crab in. Let that steam for about 15-20 min. I mix rock crab and dungy all the time. I dont notice cross-tasting one bit. Also, i notice the meat to be firmer when steamed. Idk, just my .02
I usually steam mine. Saltwater with a splash of white vinegar and some shakes of old bay and garlic powder. 8min/lb, then into a bin of ice with drainage open. Sweet and delicious!
The only time I had dungee smell (slightly) "fishy" was after 4+days in the fridge (still ate it), but I have seen some variation in meat quality and flavors before. Sometimes I think the crabs caught too close to the end of the outer jetty there in Bodega can (occasionally) have a hint of... bird sh*t flavor? :smt044
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I've run into the same issue with a few rock crab that I've taken from inside the harbor at Bodega. Not necessarily sour, but a metallic/iodine-like flavor that is a little hard to describe. Edible, yes. Tasty, not so much.
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Am I the only one who steams?
We like to steam ‘em too. Try it with a few slices of ginger in the water sometime.
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I've run into the same issue with a few rock crab that I've taken from inside the harbor at Bodega. Not necessarily sour, but a metallic/iodine-like flavor that is a little hard to describe. Edible, yes. Tasty, not so much.
That’s most likely the flavoring I was trying to describe. Thank you. After reading through these posts I’m going to try some different recipes. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong. Thank for the info!!
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Another vote for steam, plain tap water. If I have any, I may add sliced ginger to the water. I do clean the crabs thoroughly with running tap water prior to boiling.
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I don't have a ton of experience, but when we boiled crab, we didn't care for it as much. A few weeks ago we got some dungies and a couple red rocks at Bodega. We steamed the fresh crab for around 12 minutes. I had added some crab boil and salt to the water. I was much happier with it steamed and thought it tasted like we had gone to somewhere like Red Lobster. We cooked the red rock in the same pot as the dungeness and I personally thought they tasted pretty similar. I just thought it was more of a pain for getting the meat out of anything else besides the large front claws.
When you say store bought - are you talking about the frozen whole dungeness from somewhere like costco?
I think I will try steaming them next time. From what I’ve heard I think I’ll be happier doing that. I was talking about store bought crab from Costco or like from the shops near bodega bay. He whole precooked crab they have sitting on ice. I did notice the meat was not as firm as I thought it would be. Perhaps steaming could certainly help me with that issue. Someone here said they experienced a different taste from crabs caught near the jetty or from inside the harbor. Perhaps that was the issue. Either way practice makes perfect so looks like I’ll just have to keep trying until I get it just the way I want it!! Thanks
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I see and hear most people boil their crab. Am I the only one who steams? I feel that boiling dilutes the taste as it escapes into the water.
All i do is take 1/3 can of beer, a teaspoon of vinegar a few smashed cloves of garlic and toss my crab in. Let that steam for about 15-20 min. I mix rock crab and dungy all the time. I dont notice cross-tasting one bit. Also, i notice the meat to be firmer when steamed. Idk, just my .02
Thanks for he information. I’ll definitely try steaming them next time. It seems to be the way to go
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Another vote for steam, plain tap water. If I have any, I may add sliced ginger to the water. I do clean the crabs thoroughly with running tap water prior to boiling.
Definitely going to steam them the next time. I also cleaned mine thoroughly prior to cooking just cause of the health advisories. Thanks!