Crab is one of the most popular premium seafood dishes that many people enjoy. Eating crab at seafood restaurants is expensive and it’s hard to get the satisfying feeling of “having it all”. That’s why many people occasionally buy crab to bring home. Although it’s much cheaper, you are likely to encounter the problem of crabs being soft, which can be disappointing when your family is eagerly waiting. Therefore, you need to know some tips for choosing good and firm crabs, whether they are meat crabs or stone crabs.
Tips for choosing good crabs
Avoid the gentle ones
Crabs become weaker and less firm the longer they are kept, so you need to choose fresh ones. The crabs that have been kept for a long time may appear large on the outside, but the meat inside has shrunk. Therefore, pay attention to choose healthy and agile crabs that are “feisty”. These crabs react quickly and strongly when touched. The ones that appear gentle and slow are usually already kept in the seafood aisle for a long time and their meat has become mushy.
Housewives need to know the tips for choosing good crab.
Ignore the sunken ones
Checking the apron is a tip for choosing good crabs for those who are connoisseurs. If the crab is fresh and firm, when you press the apron, it will not sink or break. Ignore the crabs if their apron sinks deeply when you press it; it is sure to be soft and when peeled, there will not be much meat, and the taste will be bland.
In addition, if you only plan to buy male or female crabs, then checking the apron can also help you differentiate them. The female crab has a larger apron, but if there are many hairs around the apron, do not buy it because it has already reproduced many times and the meat is not delicious. The ones with eggs visible in the apron are usually tasty, with plenty of meat and a pleasant aroma.
If you want to know if the crab has plenty of meat, you just need to press the apron inward, if you see the fresh red brick color, then you should choose this crab.
Observe the spines on the shell
Examining the spines on the shell is a tip for choosing good crabs that not many people know. Short, small, soft and brittle spines indicate that the crab is still young, while old crabs have larger, harder and evenly spaced spines.
Pay attention to the color of the crab
Darker color crabs, with the color of the legs and the shell being the same, are delicious and have a rich flavor. The darker the color of the shell, the older the crab is. Young crabs are lighter in color and their meat is also less firm and paler.
The color of the apron should also be noted. Crabs with dark-colored aprons are usually tastier than those with light-colored aprons.
In addition, you should also pay attention to the time of buying crabs. If you buy crabs on the full moon day or around this day, you will face the risk of buying soft crabs. To get good crabs, you should buy them during the high tide season, the end of the month, the beginning of the month, or on moonless nights. These are the times when crabs are fat and have the firmest flesh.
Notes when preparing crabs
When you bring crabs home, you should not put them directly into the water because they will die due to “thermal shock”. Crabs dying before processing will seriously reduce the quality of the dish. Therefore, after bringing the crabs home, let them sit in a cool and moist place, and occasionally sprinkle water on them to prevent them from drying out.
Do not cut off the string binding the crabs while they are still alive because it will be very laborious and difficult to handle them, you may even get injured because the crabs will pinch. You may also end up chasing crabs all around the house.
The best way to handle this is to use a sharp object to stab the apron to immobilize the crab, and then remove the string. Another way is to soak the crabs, which are still tied, in ice water to paralyze them before handling.
According to vtc.vn
