Alaskan King Crabs – Hot Style Attempt #1
I’ve recently been introduced to a new fish monger and with his expertise have come some unbelievable products. He loves to deal with new people, and while looking through his selection of fish, he asked me if I wanted to deal or no deal with him. Intrigued, I said “deal.” He went to his secret back room and brought back a huge box. As all fish mongers do, he was trying to make a sale, but in this case he had the upper hand. He opened the box and with my wide eyes, the sale was already completed.
Aren’t these pretty?
CLAWS!
Now I had a hard time coming up with how to make this a blog-worthy-post. Searching the web for a hot & spicy crab leg recipe produced no results. So I went back and forth with a few people in the comments section (thanks DK) and it seemed my idea was worth the attempt.
I’ll be steaming these for 12 minutes; so I’m using the largest pot I have. I fill the bottom with 3 inches of water; add garlic and a few hefty pinches of sea salt. I’m thinking the salt should bring the boiling point up, thus getting a hotter steam. Then I decided to add a couple drops of Muso’s extract to the water.
I bought this one on Ebay for $1 + shipping.
I next got my other items ready.
Dipping sauce ingredients…
and ‘cooling’ agent.
Now I was ready to add Muso’s extract to the sea salt water and garlic. I followed the advice from Muso’s site and put on rubber gloves. I ran warm water over the bottle, unscrewed the top and put in a couple drops. The fumes tickled my nose oh so well.
If all goes as planned, I’ll also be using gloves to crack open and eat the legs. (Would hate having burned hands! As a side note, Muso just recently started selling PURE CAPSAICIN POWDER.)
I turned on the stove and waited for the water to boil to get the steam going. Garlicly heat fumes filled the house and I had to open windows and doors to keep the air clean. To fit in the steamer, I had to break the leg and claw in three places.
After 10 minutes I decided to take the temperature and got 191 degrees.
I took the crabs out, plated and got ready to eat.
Nice lump of meat!
The crab was delicious. The meat was succulent and sweet. The Nitro dipping butter sauce was delectable. But the overall results were pitiful. The Muso steam did absolutely nothing for the crab. I licked the shells and tasted nothing, so I took off the rubber gloves and finished up a scrumptious meal.
Having felt defeated, I had to try something…so I decided to taste the water.
HOLY hill of beans. I started sling carp. I used the cooling agent more and more and then my hands started to burn.
I have more of these legs and hope that one of you can help me find the best way to make this a hot & spicy dish.
Enjoy Life
-thakswet
ha! I love it. Excellent article I was curious on the results of the extract in the water on the crab meat as well. I know when we cook crawfish it takes a little knowhow to get the heat into them. Just boiling them in spicy water doesn’t make them spicy. You need to let them soak up the heat after you are done boiling. I don’t know anything about crab though. Good thing you got to ‘sling carp’ though!
Man, those are some BIG Crab Legs! Love the picture a tthe end! Had a similiar experiaince with Muso’s extract trying to spice up some salsa. My face pretty much looked just like yours!
Nice post there thakswet.
The only suggestion I have is the “tivo coaster” in the one picture, next time use one with a chilepepper on it (or something) 🙂
thak great article, maybe you can use the water and marinate the meat in that for 24 hours, the shell probably didn’t allow any of it to really get in there. excellent job.
Yeeeeee doggie! Now that there is sum gooood eatin’!!!
and drinkin’!!!!
Just received my MUSO care package in the mail. Some nice 15million pure capsaicin powder. Man – I’m afraid just holding the vile!
McCormick Creole Seasoning? I’d prolly be shot for using that instead of Tony Chachere’s! After boiling crawfish or crab, we always hit it with some of the Tony’s afterwards, too. Not sure how that’d work with the legs, tho.
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Tony’s is entirely too salty for me. I’ve tried so many of these Creole seasonings and I always end up going back to McCormink’s.
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Hopefully mine will come today….So you wanted some of the “Chem-Mix”??? (evil chuckle)
Nice job thakswet. That looks delicious! Found some directions online today that says to cook for approx 10 minutes, then to leave in water another 30 minutes to soak. Of course I was looking for crab boil, you steamed yours, that may be the difference. It sure looks like it was delicious regardless! I am going to give this a try for sure. Of course, it’s hard to find crab legs like that around here. More like toothpicks in comparison to those things!
Here is a link to what I found.
Nice review! Nice legs…! Hey don’t forget y’all, when these go through customs, (from Canada, eh!) I think the customs agents get a little antsy with little vials of black oil and white powder….!! Still pity the poor bugger that opens them up to test the contents….. LOL!
Enjoy!
Muso
Great write up thak- the legs look so good, and I guess I’ll just use a spoon for the “hill of beans”.
want them spicy? … let them sit for a little bit after you’re done boiling (it won’t hurt the consistency of the meat too much… you can even put a load of ice cubes in there if need be) same concept as craws
those legs look familiar…was i there when you bought them? i love the sequence of events that are caught on camera….if i liked seafood, id be the first in line to try your crablegs. good idea wearing the gloves….
ps. has tsyzu put on some weight?
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“if you liked seafood”… maybe if you weren’t a vegetarian you could eat something. These weren’t bought where you’re thinking. Those were like pencils. I have some more of these if you want to try them out….
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Tszyu is always gaining weight; it’s all he’s good for.
I am a fond of sechwan crab. It is an excellent way to enjoy hot and spicy crab meat. Find a sechwan sauce that is to your liking. Then pull the raw crab meat out of the shells, get together any of your favorite chinese vegetables and prepare them for stir frying. Get your wok hot and add a little peanut oil, stir fry your assorted vegetables and remove. Add a little sesame oil and stir fry some chinese red peppers, add crab meat, don’t overcook!!!! Remove from wok, then add back in your veggies and sechwan sauce, when bubbly, add crab and peppers. Toss this a couple of times and eat with some sticky rice. For the vegetables, I would suggest waterchesnuts for the crunch, sugar snap peas, carrot, mushroom and Bok Choy. If the Sechwan sauce isn’t hot enough for you, add a little of Blair’s sweet death sauce to it.
I am going to try this recipe and also let them soak in the water for a bit to see how it turns out I have also made a dip of butter, hot sauce and lemon and will let you know how the crabs turned out I have been cokking them for years and the taste still is not like the ones I use to have as a child and the people that use to cook them took the recipes to the grave with them. so again thanks for the advice
FANTASTIC, Holy Smokes them some legs !!! Great post!!
Hi all! I personally can not eat spicy food, so I live vicariously through y’all!! I am a chef, though, and a firefighter, too! Just the right mixture for this type of cooking, no?! I am just finishing up a batch of pure Habernero Hot Sauce from my garden pickings! Wish I could try it…..
Anyway, letting them sit should draw in some of the liquid as they cool a few degrees. Or, as in basting a turkey, you could inject a little mixture into the legs at some point. You can do this through the thin membrane on the inside of the joint. This will allow the meat of the leg to sort of “Baste” in the ‘heat’ while cooking.Then when it cools a little, it will reabsorb some of that liquid into the meat itself. I know, I know, alot of work for a crab leg, but just imagine the outcome…********! Happy Cooking! ~Frank~