We love crab legs. Alaskan King or Snow. Doesn't matter. We had Snow Crab legs recently and they were exquisite. And they are so easy to prepare and serve. Read on to see what we did. It could not be simpler.
Keep in mind that the majority of crab legs you buy from your local grocery store, Alaskan King or Snow, will be precooked. When you bring them home from the store, you are essentially just heating them back up. Therefore, you should be careful not to overcook them or they will be tough and not have a very good flavor. Here's how we do it.
We had a bottle of clarified butter in the refrigerator from Trader Joe's. What is clarified butter? Why do you want to use clarified butter for your crab legs?
Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat.[1] Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids float to the surface and are skimmed off, and the remainder of the milk solids sink to the bottom and are left behind when the butter fat (which would then be on top) is poured off.
You will note that the label on the bottle also states "ghee" in parentheses. Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in ancient India and is commonly used in South Asian cuisines, traditional medicine, and religious rituals.
Why use clarified butter? Because crab legs are delicious dipped in it. That's the only thing I can say. You could also use cocktail sauce. Your choice.
My plate as I started my way through my first helping of legs.
And my plate a little later. I bought a two and one half pound package at $8.99 per pound. which was enough for two rather hungry men. It was around $22.00 for the package, so it would be very expensive to serve these to a large crowd. Plus they are messy. I like to keep party food simple and clean. I would keep an evening of crab legs to an intimate gathering of two or three people; four maximum.
(An additional tip: Three drops of hot sauce in warm, clarified butter can really draw out the wonderful taste of fresh crab legs.)
So there you have it. Extremely simple to make and incredibly delicious to eat. I hope you will try crab legs at home over the summer.
Keep in mind that the majority of crab legs you buy from your local grocery store, Alaskan King or Snow, will be precooked. When you bring them home from the store, you are essentially just heating them back up. Therefore, you should be careful not to overcook them or they will be tough and not have a very good flavor. Here's how we do it.
Our package of Snow Crab legs in the blue foam container from the market. I looked at several packages before I made my final selection.
This package looked very fresh. When I unwrapped them at home, they had the aroma of the sea. No fishy odor. You do not want that. You want them to be as odor free as possible.
I used a large, deep pot for steaming. About an inch or two of water in the bottom with a little salt sprinkled in the water. A tablespoon or two. Then place the steaming rack in the bottom and place the lid on top and wait for the water to boil. An inch or two of water will boil very quickly, so stand close by the steaming pot.
Once the water reached the boil, into the pot with the legs.
We were getting a really good steam going here. I placed the lid on tightly and set the timer for six minutes. It will take between four and six minutes to bring them to the perfect temperature. Some sites say "steam until they look done." They are crab legs which have already been cooked. They are pink. How do you know when they "look done." Steam them for six minutes. That is what I always do and it always works.
We had a bottle of clarified butter in the refrigerator from Trader Joe's. What is clarified butter? Why do you want to use clarified butter for your crab legs?
Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat.[1] Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids float to the surface and are skimmed off, and the remainder of the milk solids sink to the bottom and are left behind when the butter fat (which would then be on top) is poured off.
 |
| Freshly made clarified butter, still liquid |
 |
| Clarified butter at room temperature |
Why use clarified butter? Because crab legs are delicious dipped in it. That's the only thing I can say. You could also use cocktail sauce. Your choice.
My plate as I started my way through my first helping of legs.
And my plate a little later. I bought a two and one half pound package at $8.99 per pound. which was enough for two rather hungry men. It was around $22.00 for the package, so it would be very expensive to serve these to a large crowd. Plus they are messy. I like to keep party food simple and clean. I would keep an evening of crab legs to an intimate gathering of two or three people; four maximum.
So there you have it. Extremely simple to make and incredibly delicious to eat. I hope you will try crab legs at home over the summer.
