King Crab Recipe
Crab is just irresistible. The fresh meat is high protein, juicy and of course delicious. One of American’s favorite is king crab recipe. This huge-sized crab is usually cooked by taking the leg part and mixed with the sriracha sauce. Mix recipe between American specialty crab and Asian sauce is definitely a must try. Here are some suggestion before cooking.
The Important Ingredients
- The type of crab
There are two possible crab types that you can try for this recipe. The first is king crab which has big legs. And another one is the snow crab. Both of them are popular because the flesh is delicious aand sweet. But some restaurants prefer the king crab ones since they are easier to cut. The meat part must be exposed before it’s baked in the oven.
Snow crab and king crab have different legs too. The snow ones are softer and the meat isn’t as much as the king crab. But if you want to enjoy the cheaper one, try the snow crab. The king crab is usually found in very expensive price. But since the meat is much more than any other crustacean, it will satisfy you more.
- Sriracha
Have you ever tried the traditional sauce from Thailand called sriracha? Though king crab recipe is American cuisine, this sauce is used to make it perfect. It’s made of fermented fresh chili, salt, garlic, sugar and wine vinegar. The taste is strong because the garlic is usually minced. When you pour the sauce to the crab, it has the hot spicy sensation on your mouth. If you can’t make it, try to buy the bottle one at the market.
- Unsalted butter
Although the unsalted butter is usually used for baking, this recipe also uses it to make the sauce. The unsalted one has plain taste that won’t give any taste to the sauce. The sriracha sauce has had the strong taste, include the salty. So if you use the salted butter, the king crab is too salty. Make sure to check the expire date since the unsalted has shorter life than the another.
- Smoked paprika
As a versatile ingredients, smoked paprika is used after the crabs is out from the oven. There are various kind of paprika, so you need to adjust according to your taste. Some smoked paprika is sweet, some of them are spicy than others. It’s powdery so that you’ll sprinkle it on the crabs before it’s served on your table.
Cooking tips
- The crab part
The uniqueness of the recipe is you only need the leg part of the crab. The leg part contains much meat rather than it’s head. It also has long size and easy to cut. The meat is so soft and rich, that’s why it’s prefered. If you buy the whole crab, separate the leg from the body. You might find the frozen one in the market, so you need to steam it first at least about 5 minutes.
- Minutes in the oven
Crab meat is sweet and juicy, that’s why you need no more than 20 minutes in the oven. The longer it’s in the oven, the drier the meat gets. Instead of making it delicious, the drying one has different taste. If you cook it less than 20 minutes is also okay, but it’s not cooked enough. Moreover if you buy the frozen one, you must put into the oven more than quarter minutes.
- Why the aluminum foil?
After arranging the crabs on the tray, you should cover it with the aluminum foil. Why is aluminum foil? It avoids the crabs form burning by the heat. It also help the crabs cooked properly. You may cover the tray first with the aluminum foil so the bottom part of the crab won’t burnt too. The dry meat won’t be delicious to eat, right?
- Making the sriracha
Sriracha sauce is they key of the menu, but it doesn’t stand itself. You make the sriracha lemon butter sauce to be spread on the crabs after it’s baked. The strong aroma and taste of srirache is combined with the lemon juice and butter. Choose the unsalted butter cause the sriracha sauce has been salty. Don’t put too much lemon juice or the sauce will be sour.
- Other possible topping
Parsley as the topping is good, but why don’t you try other topping? The scallion will create Asian vibes in this American dishes. Put some of white part of the scallion that has been chopped. Not only beautifying the look, the scallion is also health for your body to avoid the disgestion problem.
King Crab Recipe and Information
Course : Side dish
Cuisine : American
Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cook time : 20 minutes
Total time : 30 minutes
Servings : 4 people
Calories : 388
Ingredients
- 850g of king crabs, leg parts is prefered
- A stick of unsalted butter
- 1 tsp of sriracha
- 2 tbsp of lemon juice
- ½ tbsp of sugar
- 3 dashes of smoked bellpepper
- 1 tbsp of parsley
Instructions
- Prepare your oven and preheat to the 400F.
- Clean the crabs leg. After that, you need to cut them using the scissors. Let the crab meat is exposed. Or you just need to cut the top of its shell.
- Put all the king crab legs on the baking tray. Avoid to make a pile instead of arrange them neatly.
- Cover the top of baking tray using aluminum foil. This step is very important to avoid the crab meat being dry or burned.
- Put the baking tray in the oven and wait for about 20 minutes.
- As waiting the crabs bakes, you can create the lemon butter. Prepare the unsalted butter, sriracha, sugar, and lemon juice. You need a whisk to combine. Set aside after they combine well like a batter.
- If the baking time is finished, spread the sriracha lemon butter onto the crabs. Add the smoked bellpepper and also the parsley. Then the baked king crab is ready to be served.
This king crab recipe is great dish to be enjoyed. As a side dish, it can be accompanied by any other dish like rice or noodles. Some of you might don’t like when it’s spread on the crabs. You can separate the sauce and serve it for dipping. Whatever the way, this recipe will be your favorite dish.