Step 1 : Removing the Arpon
Usually, the crabs we get here would have its mandibles (the mouthparts at the front) removed . All the more better. Now, to what we call the APRON.
Flip the crab over. You'll see a triangular part on the underside near the rear of the crab That is the crab's abdomen .(called the APRON) with the excretory and reproductive organs, and you don't want to eat that , so get your nails into the crack and pry the abdomen open.
Inside, see that there's many loosely attached white coloured things that don't look like meat. Those are the crab's gills, which are obviously not good for eating, so get them all off.
(Apron and the gills removed and cleaned)
Step 2 : Removing the Carapace
Chop off the last segments at the end of the legs (the crab foot/toe). You dont need those either. (left side image above)
Carapace is the back of the crab,and we remove it by sticking our thumb into the hole left from removing the apron and lifting up firmly. The shell will detach from the body with some guts attached. Remove and discard the leaf-like, spongy gills from either side of the body. Rinse out the greenish-brown guts (image on the right hand side above, with the carapace removed)
Step 3 : Seperate the legs and the claws
Now twist the leg at the joints to break it into parts.
and the next is to cut the body into half, at the centre, halfwise.
Rip off the smallaer claws. U keep it. Wash all the cut parts thoroughly in running water.
that the cleaning part is done..you are literally, more than half way through the process....phew !
A L M O S T D O N E !!!
Cook them in enough water with salt and pepper .
Drain the stock and keep the cooked meat for future use.
And what ended up of the stock was a quick simple soup. Basically, its just some veggies and noodles added into it.
Into a wok, goes a tbsp or two of olive oil.
Saute some garlic, fine julian cut carrot, sweet corn, cooked noodles (which i had beforehand-some lefotver, to be honest).
Once the carrtos are tender, add in the stock.
I didnt go for much additives, as i wanted the crab flavour to stay. Some hot and spiced vinegar, pepper powder and salt. Thats all that went it.
Mix some corn flour in water and add to the boiling soup, stirring well..to thicken.
Serve hott !
Egg, chicken, cabbage, soya sauce... anything could go in. Feel free...
Love the detailed post
ReplyDeletethanks Razina
DeleteSoup looks ugran. Blue crabs look so pretty we get live ones here Sona and we have to kill it ourselves most shops wont kill it for us so I dont buy for the fear of it running around the house.I am forced to buy crab meat :( I feel like having some nalla nadan njandu roast now.
ReplyDeletehey Meena....seriously, i just visualized the crab running aorund the drawing room and u chasing it :P :P ..lol. When we get it live..here, its alteast tied around with a rope. Have not taken the risk of welcoming some live ones home, esp with its claws on...
DeleteSona ,only the biggest claws will have rubberband around it. It is given in a simple brown cover and I was shocked to see people put it in the car along with other grocery. I even asked one lady what if it crawls out she said if one tries the other crabs wont let it. :))
DeleteHi my dear Sona, can I fly over for the crab soup? LOL Oh my... your comfort soup look so delightful. No problem, I can finish 2 big bowls. I love crab very much especially cook with chilli.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the useful tip and method of cleaning the crab. Nice tutorial.
Have a lovely day ahead,regards. Hugs to you.
Amelia
hey Amelia...glad to see you back ! loong time... sure sure...most most most welcome ! meeting you wud be the next best thing to happen to me. I was jsut a bit cautious here, with the addition of chillies or other flavours as i mentioned, coz they stock was as such mild, and didnt want to lose its "craby" touch.
DeleteHave a good day...keep in touch... :)
hmm..as Meena said I also always avoid buying the live ones because f d fear..but this post tempts me,Sona to try my hands on :)
ReplyDeletehey Julie... check out on the Instructables page. They have some even detailed pictoral post on it...even handling live ones. :)
Deletei am a vegetarian so was a like wow , i never knew there is such a long and technical process to clean a crab
ReplyDeletekeep in touch
www.beingbeautifulandpretty.com
www.indianbeautydiary.com
"technical"...haa haa. keep in touch, dolly.
DeleteI do something the same too but only use the claws/legs for the stock.
ReplyDeleteaah...alright. Here, we use them for the curry part. roast ...mostly. :)
Deletemy mom also used to make Crab curry...i dont make at home as Manish is allergic to sheelfish! A very nice and detailed post/...even i've wondered how do people clean crab :)
ReplyDeletei dot eat crabs but this is looking so well made
ReplyDeletewow the soup looks so tempting...nice detailed post
ReplyDeleteA detailed post on crab cleaning Sona!!! I never tried making it at home. We get the live ones, so scared of it. But I have seen the ones in Chinese store those are not alive, but didn't know how to prepare it. I got some good memories of having the Trivandrum style njandu thenga varatha aracha curry from my friend's house. I always crave for it.
ReplyDelete:) go for it..give a try !!! once to overcome the initial pull back..then its jsut way forward. (y)
Deletethanks dear all for the comments :) appreciate it. sorry for the late reply.
ReplyDelete