Steamed Blue Crabs with Old Bay
Steamed over beer and vinegar, layered with Old Bay as they go in, and dumped on a table covered in newspaper. An afternoon rather than a dinner.
- Serves
- 4
- Total
- 40 min
Steamed, not boiled, for the same reason as lobster: boiling waterlogs the meat and leaves half the flavor in a pot you pour away.
The seasoning goes on in layers as the crabs go into the pot, not at the end. Steam carries it down through the pile, and a crab that was seasoned on the way in tastes of Old Bay through the shell rather than wearing it on the outside.
This is not a quick dinner. It's an afternoon, a table covered in newspaper, a mallet each and a lot of beer, and that's the point of it.
If it's not right
- Bland: the seasoning went on top instead of between layers.
- Watery meat: boiled rather than steamed, or the water came up over the rack.
- Hard to pick: undercooked. The meat should come away from the shell cleanly.
- Mushy: overcooked, which takes a while but is possible.
Ingredients
Method
-
**Beer and vinegar** in the bottom of a very large pot, with a rack above the liquid. Bring to a hard boil.
-
**Mix the Old Bay and salt** in a bowl.
-
**Layer them in.** A dozen crabs, then a generous handful of the seasoning. Another dozen, more seasoning. Keep going. Don't be shy with it.
-
**Lid on, 20 to 25 minutes.** They're done when the shells have gone bright orange-red all over.
-
**Out onto a table** covered in newspaper or butcher paper, with more Old Bay on top.
-
Mallets, a roll of paper towels, beer, and a couple of hours.
Goes with
From the journal
- Make the Fish — Fish is one of the things people reserve for restaurants, and it shouldn't be. It's fresher at home, it's faster than almost anything else, and the fishmonger is the best part.
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