Best Ways to Prepare Dungeness Crab

Ah, the Dungeness crab. They are best known for their detectable white flesh and rich brown meat; these crabs are a prized catch in the Pacific waters. You can either purchase them from seafood markets or catch them yourself if you’re around the Pacific coast.

Whether you bought some or caught Dungeness crabs in Newport, Oregon, what’s the next step? Cooking them, of course! You want to really bring out the flavors of the crab’s sweet and succulent flesh, right? But what if you don’t know how to prepare Dungeness crab?

Not to worry, as we show you the best ways to prepare Dungeness crabs and recipes you can follow. Read on!

Best Ways to Prepare Dungeness Crab

Before we show you ways to prepare Dungeness crab, we first want to show you how to prepare and clean it first for basic cooking.

Here are the steps to prepare the crab for cleaning:

1. If you have a live Dungeness crab, you’ll need to kill it by stabbing the crab in the middle of its body, right above the abdominal flab. Set the crab aside for ten minutes until all the dark water from the crab’s insides drain out.
2. Gently rewarm the crab with a stockpot of water. Let that water boil first, then turn off the heat. Submerge the crabs in hot water, gently warming them. Doing this will prevent the crabs from overcooking (for a second time), which would result in tough meat.
3. Allow the crabs to rest in the warm bath for about ten minutes or once fragrant. Drain the water, then rinse your crabs under cool water to stop the cooking process and cool the crab shells down enough to be handled. It also removes any crab guts oozing out while it was warming.

Now, here are the steps to cleaning and preparing your crab:

1. Use your thumbs to break the crab’s apron, using your thumb to break it off from the back of its shell. Note that female crabs have wider aprons that are more oval, and it’s best to throw female crabs back into the waters to maintain the population.
2. Stick your thumb into the left hole after removing the apron, lifting it firmly but gently. The carapace will detach from the crab’s body, with attached guts trailing behind. You can keep it to serve or dry it for other reasons, just remove all the squishy bits from every nook and cranny, then rinse.
3. Remove and discard all of the spongy, inedible gills from all sides of the body. Crack off the mandibles and throw them out. These are the crab’s mouthparts located in front.
4. Rinse all the goo from the body, so the only things left are the meat and shell.
5. Turn your crab upside down, gripping it on both sides. Place your thumbs near the crab’s midline on its back, where the carapace was. Push up with your thumbs, pull down with your hands, and add some force for the crab to crack cleanly and easily along the centerline. Pull it apart and serve with your preferred sauces and garnishes!

Note that you can clean Dungeness crabs before cooking, which can help keep the mess out of the pot while allowing more crabs in the pot. You just need to pre-chill your crab before following the steps above.

Roasted Dungeness Crab

Besides warming the crab in water, you can also try roasting it. Here’s another simple recipe you can follow.

Ingredients:

• One tablespoon of black peppercorns
• Six tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• One Dungeness crab
• Lemon wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use your flat side of the knife to press down and crush the black peppercorns, chopping them roughly. Heat butter in the microwave, then add your salt and black pepper. Stir well.
3. Coat your crab in the butter-pepper mixture, then roast it in the oven for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the crab from the oven, and garnish it with parsley and lemon wedges. Serve and enjoy!

Crab Chowder

Instead of the typical cooked or roasted whole crab, why not make it into a thick, creamy chowder? Serve it with bread, and you’ve got a whole meal right there!

Ingredients:

• Two tablespoons of unsalted butter
• One finely chopped yellow onion
• Four stalks of celery, sliced
• One tablespoon of fresh thyme, finely chopped
• Salt and black pepper
• Seven potatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
• Two cups of whole milk
• 15 ounces of fish broth
• One cup of heavy whipping cream
• Eight ounces of clam juice
• 5 pounds of chopped Dungeness crab meat

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Place the onion, celery, thyme, salt, and pepper in the pot, cooking and stirring until the onions and celery begin softening, taking about five minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, milk, broth, cream, and clam juice. Bring this mixture to a simmer and let it cook for another ten minutes until the potatoes soften.
3. Pour the broth mixture into a blender (no more than half the blender pitcher) and pulse it a few times before you leave it to blend. Puree the soup in batches until it’s smooth.
4. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stirring in the crab meat. Cook until the soup is hot and the crab is properly heated, taking about five minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with bread. Enjoy!

Wrapping It Up

Hopefully, our article on the best ways to prepare Dungeness crab gave you an idea of how to serve it to your loved ones. Don’t wait any longer and follow any of these recipes now to create delicious dishes for everyone to be impressed by. You can even check out our guides on cooking other fish species.

And if you haven’t caught Dungeness crabs yet, don’t wait to purchase them in supermarkets. Instead, why not go crabbing? Contact us now, and we can connect you with charters and guides who can get you started catching your own Dungeness crabs to take home!