How to prepare crab
Meta: How to prepare crab | HelloFresh
Meta description: Find out how to prepare crab, including what to look for when buying and how to cook and serve crab, with the experts at HelloFresh.
Crab is one of the tastiest shellfish out there. Whether you’re staying humble with a crab salad roll or going for luxury with crab linguine, crab is a favourite of restaurant diners. It can seem intimidating to prepare and cook at home, but fear not – here at HelloFresh, we’ve covered everything you need to know about crab, from buying and preparing it, to cooking and serving this tasty and sweet shellfish.
Buying crab guidance
It’s important when buying a whole crab to get a really fresh one. If possible, buy from a local seaside supplier for better freshness, and ask your fishmonger what’s new on the counter today.
It is possible to buy live crabs from fishmongers – this helps guarantee the crab will be safe to eat and cook (provided you cook it at home that day). If you want a live crab, you can ask your fishmonger to kill it before you take it home. For live crabs, a few key things to look out for include:
- A good weight to the crab
- An active crab – it should be moving about (check though, as if they are put on ice this can slow them down)
- If the crabs are in a tank, check that the water is clean and has a filter
You can also buy prepared crab meat or dressed crab in the shell. Check the meat is firm and white, with no grey or blue patches. Again, consult with your fishmonger if you can to make sure you’re getting crab that is fresh and tasty.
How to prepare crab
Once you’ve bought your crab, it’s time to take it home and turn it into something delicious! Preparing crab might seem daunting, but the steps are relatively straightforward. The whole process should only take you about 45 minutes from start to finish, so just make sure you’ve got time to follow each step and not rush your crab preparation.
You will need a few tools to prepare crab: a large sharp knife, some bowls, a lobster pick or skewer (a fine toasting fork would also work), and a hammer or sturdy rolling pin.
Crab preparation steps
- Turn the crab over so the belly is facing up and the legs are facing up. Twist the legs and claws off with firm motions and set them aside.
- Using the palm of your hand, push down firmly on the crab. Work your fingers into the gap between the body and the shell (pushing down will make it more obvious). Grasp under this gap and pull upwards to separate the body from the shell. You may need to use a bit of force to separate them!
- Remove the dead man’s fingers from the body. These are the feathery gill parts with a distinctive crooked-finger shape that are found on the body and in the shell. Take care to remove all of these, as they are poisonous if eaten.
- Returning to the shell, use a spoon to scrape out the brown meat into a bowl. You can set the shell aside – you can use it for presentation later once cleaned if desired.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the crab body into two. This will reveal cavities inside the main body containing pockets of meat, which can be removed using the lobster pick or fork.
- Take the claws and legs and wrap them gently in a tea towel. Use your hammer or rolling pin and strike down on the claws to crack open the shell. Try to do this in just one smooth motion as it will reduce shell fragments.
- Remove the white meat from inside the claws and legs, discarding any cartilage. Check for any chips of shell – you don’t want to bite down on this!
How to cook crab meat
You can cook crab very easily by boiling it and then preparing it as per the above steps. This gives you fresh, tasty crab that can be sprinkled into salads, stirred into risotto, or parcelled into ravioli.
- In a large sturdy pan, bring salted water to a boil. Use plenty of salt – approximately 30g of salt per litre of water.
- Once the water is boiling, lower the crab into the water and cover the pan with the lid.
- Cook your crab according to weight – as a guide, a 1kg crab should take about 10 minutes to cook through.
- Remove from the water and set aside to cool before you prepare the meat as per previous instruction. Don’t be tempted to place your crab into ice water to cool it quicker – this will flood the crab and waterlog the meat.
What to serve with crab
Crab meat is tender, sweet and very quick and easy to cook. You want to show off the natural flavour of the crab, so cooking it in simple dishes is a great way to eat this delicious shellfish.
Crab is wonderful served with pasta, such as in crab linguine or crab ravioli. It also goes great in many Asian dishes, such as the famous Sichuan ‘Ants climbing trees’, which combines pork meat and crab with punchy spices for this favourite snack. You can opt for a comforting crab chowder with lashings of cream, or a lighter alternative is a crab salad with watermelon. If you want to start with a basic, you can’t go wrong with crab cakes – dial up the flavour with fresh herbs or a chilli dipping sauce.
Or you can keep it classic with a dressed crab roll with mary rose sauce and crunchy cucumber, or even just drizzle with some melted butter and scoop onto slices of toasted ciabatta. However you eat your crab, it’s guaranteed to be delicious!
Crab recipes
Now that you’ve mastered the art of crab, why not experiment with some recipes from HelloFresh?
Crab cakes with tarragon aioli
Risotto fra Diavolo with crab cakes
How to make polenta
Meta: How to make polenta | HelloFresh
Meta description: Whether you’re cooking savoury or sweet, learn how to make the most of polenta and get amazing results for your kitchen adventures with HelloFresh.
If you’ve ever seen the creamy yellow plates of polenta topped with slow-cooked Italian classics, tucked into a slice of orange polenta cake, or even dipped a fried polenta wedge into sticky barbeque sauce, you’ve probably come away wondering exactly what polenta is.
Polenta can seem a bit of a mystery to many people. Is polenta a grain? How do you cook polenta? Maybe you’ve even asked yourself, what does polenta taste like? We’ve broken down all your questions about polenta below, so find out more about how to cook and use this amazing ingredient and expand your recipe repertoire.
What is polenta?
Polenta is a dish commonly found in Italian cooking. Often referred to as the ultimate Italian comfort food, with one bite of slowly simmered hot polenta on a cold day, it’s easy to see why. Polenta is used in both sweet and savoury dishes and can be used as a gluten-free alternative to flour. It makes cakes and puddings moist and full of flavour, but it also makes a great breadcrumb substitute for crusts and frying.
What is polenta made from?
Polenta is made from finely ground corn, which is sometimes referred to as cornmeal (cornmeal is how it’s typically referred to in the USA). The ‘corn’ is yellow maize, although polenta can also be made with white maize as well. It’s not quite a grain, but it can be used as a rich and tasty base for dishes in the same way. It has a sunny yellow colour, a slightly sweet taste and comes in a variety of grades, ranging from coarse to fine in texture, depending on what you’re using it for in your dish.
How to make polenta
There are a couple of ways to cook polenta, and you can even get instant polenta, ready-made polenta or quick-cook polenta if you don’t fancy standing over a pan! However, the most common way to cook polenta is as follows:
- Measure out 1 part polenta to 5 parts of water (for example, 100g of dried polenta to 500ml of water).
- Place the water in a pan with a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
- Add your polenta to the water once boiling.
- Keep stirring your polenta throughout (not constantly, but every couple of minutes). This will help it evenly absorb the water and stop it from sticking to the pan.
- Cook the polenta for 45 – 50 minutes, or until it’s soft, smooth, and all the water is absorbed. If you do a quick taste test, you shouldn’t be able to detect any crunchy uncooked polenta grains. If some still remain, add a little more water and keep cooking. The ideal texture for polenta should be soft but not runny – similar to scrambled egg or cake batter.
- Finish with some butter and cheese, and serve!
This method only applies to dried polenta which is cooked from scratch and needs to be fully rehydrated. Quick-cook polenta and instant polenta are often partially hydrated to cut down on cooking time. Always check the instructions first.
How to make polenta cake
Polenta cake is delicious, moist and a real treat to have on a warm summer’s day. Below is our take on a traditional orange polenta cake. For this recipe, we recommend using a 20cm round tin with a loose bottom.
Ingredients:
250g unsalted, softened butter
250g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs
140g fine yellow polenta
200g self-raising flour
Zest and juice of two large oranges
- Start off by zesting and juicing your oranges and set them aside for later.
- Pre-heat your oven to 160C (fan) or gas mark 3.
- Beat together the butter and golden caster sugar until fluffy and pale.
- Add one egg at a time to the mixture, beating in until fully incorporated.
- Sift the flour and fold in gently.
- Add the polenta, orange zest and juice, folding into the batter so it’s evenly spread through.
- Place in your greased and lined baking tin, and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean with a few crumbs.
- Turn it out onto a wire cooling rack and let it cool right down.
Bonus: you could whip up a quick orange icing to drizzle over the top if desired. Simply mix orange juice and icing sugar together until you have a soft dripping consistency, then swirl over the cake for an extra burst of sweetness.
How to make polenta chips
These polenta chips are perfect for outdoor dining; crispy on the outside but sticky and savoury on the inside.
Ingredients:
250g quick cook polenta
1L of vegetable or chicken stock
50g parmesan cheese
50g butter
Dried herbs (such as thyme, chives or parsley)
Salt
Olive oil
- Prepare the quick-cook polenta with the stock. Cook until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Stir through the parmesan cheese, dried herbs and butter.
- Transfer to a square baking tin and let the polenta cool and set (approximately 2 hours in the fridge).
- Remove from the tin and cut into chips (to your preferred size and thickness).
- Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. You can then either shallow fry them for extra crispy edges or bake them in the oven at 180C for 20 – 30 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
What to serve with polenta
Traditional polenta is served with lashings of butter and cheese, but you can also serve it with:
- Tomato ragu sauce (either vegetarian or meat)
- Mushrooms and spinach with cream sauce
- Herb-crusted pork or lamb chops
- Roasted butternut squash, red onion, and cherry tomato medley, topped with cheddar cheese
- Spicy corn and tomato salsa with fried chicken strips
- Pan-fried steak with tender stem broccoli and asparagus
Polenta recipes
To get more inspiration for using polenta in the kitchen, why not check out the below recipes from HelloFresh:
H.J.Albone Media 