Sauted Crab Appitizer Recipe with Lemongrass
Blue Crab is a great meal. There are some things you should know when buying and preparing crab. Do not buy or cook dead blue crabs. You can buy blue crabs either raw or cooked in the shell. Blue crabs bought in markets usually range from 5 inches to 6 inches long and are sold by the dozen or by the bushel. Under no circumstances should live blue crabs and cooked blue crabs touch each other. Live crabs may contain bacteria that could contaminate the cooked crab. For the same reason, never put cooked crabs back into the bushel basket in which they were purchased alive. One 6-ounce steamed crab yields about 3 ounces of picked crabmeat.
One pound of crabmeat yields about 3 cups. Three-and-a-half ounces of crabmeat provides 78 calories, 15.9 g protein, 1.3 g fat, 102 mg cholesterol, 244 mg potassium, and 337 mg sodium. The shelf life of steamed crabs and cooked, fresh crabmeat is 3-5 days under constant refrigeration. Frozen, cooked crabmeat held at 0 degrees F has a storage life of 3 months. If uncooked, 6 months. Frozen crabmeat tends to lose its flavor and become tough or watery. However, prepared crabmeat, such as crab cakes or crab imperial, yields better results that unprepared. Store all crabmeat products in a moisture-proof, vapor-proof wrapping or in a rigid, airtight container.
*Information courtesy of the University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service.
Sauted Crab Appitizer Recipe with Lemongrass
1/4 pound butter
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of fresh lemongrass
1 tablespoon finely minced green onion
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 small lime
12 toast points or baked puff pastry shells
Melt butter in a large skillet and add garlic, lemongrass and green onions. Cook, stirring about 3 minutes, but do not brown. Add crabmeat and toss gently and thoroughly until heated through. Sprinkle with chives, parsley and lemon juice or lime juice.
Spoon mixture onto hot toast points, puff pastry shells, or serve over rice.