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Susan Jung

A crab boil brings to mind eating outdoors on newspaper-covered picnic tables. This easy one-pot meal thats' ready in 15 minutes can be just as delicious served indoors, in the winter, when many varieties of crabs are at their best.
The amount below will serve four people with moderate appetites. If you're serving big eaters, or have more guests, use the same amount of water and seasonings, but add more crab, potatoes and corn (you'll have to cook the ingredients in batches, though). Have plenty of paper napkins available.
Recipe
1 onion, roughly chopped
8-12 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
Red pepper flakes, to taste
2 tsp whole coriander seeds
2 tsp whole dill seeds
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1-2 tbsp Tabasco sauce
50 grams coarse sea salt
1.5kg small potatoes
8 medium-sized fresh crabs (with shells measuring about 10cm across at their widest point), scrubbed clean
4 ears of corn, halved

Heat eight litres of water in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, celery, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, coriander and dill seeds, peppercorns, Tabasco and salt.
Bring to the boil then taste the liquid - it should be quite salty and spicy.
Add the potatoes and simmer for five minutes.
Add the crab and corn and simmer for six to eight minutes, depending on the size of the crabs.
Remove the crabs and corn from the liquid and blot them with paper towels.
Test to see that the potatoes are tender by piercing them with a sharp knife. When the potatoes are ready, remove them from the pot, blot them briefly, then serve with the crab and corn.

 


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Susan Jung's recipes

Quick seafood recipe: Crab boil

The crab boil

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

A crab boil brings to mind eating outdoors on newspaper-covered picnic tables. This easy one-pot meal thats' ready in 15 minutes can be just as delicious served indoors.
