HOW TO BE A SEA SCROUNGE
(Page 5 of 9)
Once your crab turns, scoop him into the net or just wave a
stick in front of him. The spunky crustacean will most
probably clamp a claw on the proffered piece of wood and
tenaciously hang on until you can pick him up and dump him
into a box or bag. If you have to handle the ornery little
dickens, grab him only from the rear. A snap from those
pinchers can inflict a jagged and dirty wound that will be
quite painful.
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The other two crabbing methods aren't nearly as exciting
but are surer bets, especially for the inexperienced
forager. When a weighted line is baited with a fish head
and dropped to the bottom of likely crab waters, the
crustaceans will latch onto the offering just as firmly as
they'll pinch the piece of wood I mentioned earlier. When
they do, haul them up and net them. Increase your haul by
working as many as a dozen of these drop lines at once.
Crab traps work much the same way except that they close up
around the unsuspecting blues when they gather to feast on
the bait fastened in the centers of the snares.
Many other crabs make good eating, too. As a matter of
fact, all true crabs are edible . . . but some are so small
that the effort is hardly worthwhile. Most coastal areas of
this country, however, have at least one notably famous
local crab.
In New England look for the oval-shaped yellow-brown rock
crab on sandy bottoms in shallow water just below the
low-tide line. You'll also find rock crabs hiding along the
zone between the tides. The Jonah crab, with its brick red
back, yellowish belly and rough carapace favors the open
sandy shores of northeastern waters, too. State laws in the
region forbid non-residents from using crab pots on the
crustaceans but both crabs can be netted or caught on
baited lines quite easily.
The best eating on the West Coast is provided by the large
dungeness crab, a reddish-brown member of the
Cancer family that can be taken in traps from the
bottoms of tidal flats and bays, and the South has its
stone and lady crabs.
Hard-shelled crabs should be boiled or steamed in sea water
or in fresh water to which some salt and vinegar has been
added. Dump the crustaceans into the boiling liquid and
cook them for ten minutes after the water has come back to
a boil. Just as with lobsters, this is the quickest, most
humane way to kill the hard-shells.
Cool, but do not soak, the crabs in cold running water
after they've finished boiling. Break off the claws and
legs and lay them aside. Remove the craw, the devil's
fingers and the abdomen or "key", which is the fleshy part
tucked under the top shell. Break each body into two pieces
along the seam made by the recess from which you removed
the abdomen, crack the legs and claws with a pair of pliers
. . . and you're all set to pick out the meat to use as is
or sauteed, deviled, gumboed or added to salads.
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