Ever since I was little, having fried crab claws has been a delight and a treat. What’s a fried crab claw? It’s the pincer of the crab with the meat from the leg still attached.Whenever my family would head down to Mobile, Alabama, where both of my parents are from, my Mom would always buy crab claws to bring back up to DC with us where she would then fry them on special occasions. Christmas morning ALWAYS meant fried fish, crab claws, oysters, grits, and biscuits. I discovered that the Dekalb Farmer’s Market in Atlanta carries them and was dying to make a batch for the beau. I made a batch of fried claws for him, but then I got to thinking about other ways that they could be prepared that would be healthier for us both. Here are all the recipes I came up with both healthy and non… or you can click on the photo above for a link to order your own.
FRIED CRAB CLAWS
Ingredients
* 1 lb of crab claws
* 2 eggs
* 2 cups of oil
* 1.5 cups of cornmeal
* 1.5 cups of panko bread crumbs
* 2-3 tsps of Creole Seasoning (I prefer Tony Chachere’s) or Old Bay Seasoning
(don’t use both seasonings as both contain salt and will make your claws way too salty.)
1. Pour your oil into a pot deep enough that it will cover the claws when you drop them in.
2. In a small shallow bowl beat your eggs with a fork or whisk
3. Open your crab claws container and rinse them under cold water in a colander. Pick out any pieces of shell that may have broken off.
4. Mix the cornmeal, the breadcrumbs and the seasonings in a shallow bowl or pie plate. (NB: You can skip the seasoned cornmeal mix and use a Fish Fry mix instead. The benefits of the cornmeal mixture is it allows you to monitor your sodium more than using the fish fry. I like the Zatarain’s Fish Fry best, but it is VERY salty, so you may need to cut it with cornmeal.)
5. Shake the colander to remove any excess water from the claws.
6. Using one hand, dip the claws individually into the egg batter, then into the cornmeal fry.
7. Once the claws are coated with the fry batter, drop them into the oil and allow to fry for about 2-4 minutes or until nicely browned.
8. Remove from the heat and allow to blot on paper towels before serving with co*cktail or tartar sauce. (recipe to follow)
OVEN FRIED CRAB CLAWS
1. Follow all steps above except instead of frying the claws, arrange them on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes on 375 degrees.
2.Remove from the heat and serve with co*cktail or tartar sauce. (recipe to follow)
STEAMED SPICED CRAB CLAWS.
1.Open your crab claws container and rinse them under cold water in a colander. Pick out any pieces of shell that may have broken off.
2. In a large sauce pot or stock pot, bring to a boil bring 1 quart of water, ½ bottle of beer, 3 tablespoons of Old Bay Seasoning (or Creole Seasoning), and one lemon, halved.
3. Once the mixture has come to a rolling boil, add the crab claws to a steam and boil basket and immerse into the boil. (if you don’t have a steam and boil basket, you can just add them straight into the boil and pour it into a colander once cooked.)
4. Once the claws have changed color and become orangish/coral, remove them from the water. Toss w/a tablespoon of Old Bay (or Creole Seasoning) and serve with co*cktail sauce or tartar sauce or melted butter. (Though I am usually a REAL butter purist, as a dipping sauce to steamed or boiled seafood, margarine tends to melt nicer and stay liquidy for longer.)
co*ckTAIL SAUCE
(I know you can buy it from the store, but freshly made it is soooo GOOD!!!!)
* 1 cup Ketchup
* 1-4 teaspoons of Horseradish sauce or freshly grated Horseradish.
Combine the Ketchup and your chosen amount of horseradish in a ramekin or small bowl.
How much horseradish you use really left up to the individual’s preference and how much spicy/tangy you want your sauce to be. A little bit of horseradish goes a loooooong way. A good gauge is the color of the sauce. The further away it gets from the deep red of ketchup and the closer it gets to peach is a good indicator of how much kick the sauce will have.
TARTAR SAUCE
I listed the recipe for this on my Crab Puff Po'Boy recipe. Click here to see it.
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 2-4 Tablespoons dill pickle relish
Mix the two ingredients together and serve with fried seafood.
How much relish you use, much like the horseradish in co*cktail sauce, is up to individual taste. As I am not crazy about mayonnaise AT ALL but I loveLoveLOVE pickles, I’m going to go a little heavier on the relish than most.
Delightful, Delectable, Deliciously Divine….
ENJOY!!!
