by Sara Milner
Maryland blue crabs! This kind of crab is obviously local to Maryland and extremely popular in Ocean City. Shortly after deciding our hangover was only worsened by the high sun exposure and salt water intake on the beach we saw a plane advertisement for “Higgins Crab House” which happened to be located only about a block from where we were. Neither Sheena nor I had ever had steamed crabs before and we figured it was only appropriate to experience them in the state famous for their crabs.
So, we got crabs!
There are many options for crab houses in Ocean City. In fact, it seems there is at least one on every corner. Since we had never been to a crab house before, it was hard to judge the authenticity of the crab house. The outside of the restaurant was painted in a bright blue, and the inside seemed to be inspired by maybe a fisherman’s shack. It was exactly how I expected a crab place to be! I read on the back of the menu that the restaurant is family owned and the crabs are bought every morning from local crab farmers. We were seated at one of the picnic tables by one of the many windows in the back of the restaurant. We ordered the special which was an “all you can eat crabs and corn”. It was $22.99 per person, significantly cheaper than most of the other crab and seafood dishes. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I love crabcakes and California rolls, so I figured I’d enjoy it.
About ten minutes after ordering, the server (her name was Sarah!) arrived with the crabs. She placed a platter of about nine crabs, eyeballs, antennae, and everything in front of us! Um, what?!?! Were we supposed to know what to do with these things?? I looked around and it seemed like everyone else knew exactly what they were doing. I felt like Sheena and I were the foreign people from New Jersey who had no idea how to eat crabs. We figured they probably got people like us all the time, so we asked Sarah to explain to us the art of eating a blue crab. (Which by the way, the crabs were red, not blue, refer to the factoid below for more on this) She said she instructed customers about eating crabs all the time. It was kind of like dissecting frogs…we got the hang of it pretty fast.
So if you’re ever in our situation, here is how it’s done:
1. Empty out the bucket they put on the table. It’ll have some knives, mallots, and whatever condiments you opted for. (in our case, melted butter, and vinegar). The emptied bucket will be used for all the crab shells, and crab insides not for eating, like lungs, intestines, etc.
2. There will also be a bucket of paper towels in the middle of the table, I figured out that it was best to lay out one for preparing the crab, lay out another next to it for the meat you will eat, and another as a napkin, because it gets messy.
3. Pick up one of the crabs. (Don’t get attached, yes, the crab was probably alive that morning, but it’s best to get over this)
4. Snap off all the claws/legs. Throw out all the smaller ones and put to the side the two large claws. (They have meat in them)
5. If you turn the crab on its back and look at its belly there is a part in the middle that is kind of in the shape of a T. I was never a huge fan of science or anatomy, so I only assumed this was the spine. Please refer to the ventral diagram of the crab to see what I am talking about (the locking spine, I think) Slide your knife under this and peel the spine back. It should peel back easily and reveal two antenna sort of things which are apparently pleopods. Rip off the spine and and the pleopods.
6. Slide the knife behind the crab shell, in the middle and pull it back so the shell snaps off the entire crab.
7. The intestines and all that stuff will be in the middle of the crab. Stick your finger in and scrape that stuff out. What will be left will be the lungs on either side of the crabs. They are said to not be edible. Sheena did eat one and is still alive and said it tasted “filial” (I think?).
8. The meat is a little bit underneath and above the lungs. Either use your finger or a knife to get the meat out.
9. Grab the claws you set aside earlier.
10. Snap each of the claws at their joints.
11. Take the mallot (This is fun) and hit the meaty parts of the claws (two parts on each). The shell will crack and the meat will be easy to pull out.
12. EATTTT… I mixed my crab with butter and vinegar. It was delish and amazing, I’m a HUGE fan and so is Sheena!!
We spent about 3 hours eating crabs and enjoyed every second. I will be traveling back to OCMD specifically for the crabs. If you have never eaten Maryland blue crabs, do it! I plan on trying other kinds of crabs as soon as I can. Hopefully I can find a decent place for crabs in New Jersey so I won’t have to travel 4 hours!
FUN FACTOID: Blue crab turns the red-orange color when cooked because "the red pigment is the most stable component of the coloring in a crab shell. The greens, blues, and browns which darken the shell in a live crab are destroyed by cooking. The red pigment common to all shrimp, crab, and lobster shells is astaxanthin, a carotenoid (e.g., like Beta-carotene, the pigment that makes fruits red-orange). Astaxanthin was first identified in the exoskeletons of crayfish (Astacidea), hence its name. In crabs, as in many decapods, astaxanthin is not a free pigment, but is complexed with a protein called Alpha-crustacyanin, which alters the resonance of astaxanthin such that the complex acts as a blue-green pigment. As mentioned above, astaxanthin is heat stable, while the Alpha-crustacyanin protein is not, so boiling the crab shell denatures the blue-green Alpha-crustacyanin releasing the red-orange astaxanthin.” (www.bluecrabinfo.com)
Ventral Crab Anatomy (ventral is the stomach side, dorsal is the back shell side):
Higgin’s Crab House is located on 31st Street in Ocean City, MD- it was an awesome experience! We left exhausted from cutting up all the crabs, but with no hangover. So maybe crabs cure hangovers?
In conclusion: Maryland blue crabs are great on Sunday afternoons after a night out in Ocean City, MD. Other kinds of crabs probably are not such a great thing to have after a night out. J
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