Racer Crabs - The First Taste

Last weekend at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market we picked up some racer crabs for $5.00 per pound.  Great deal as far as I'm concerned.  However when I got home I couldn't find any information on racer crabs - anywhere.  At first, I thought it might be a variety of dungeonous crab - but this week I asked the vendor if this was a species of dungenous and he advised it wasn't but could only tell me that a famous fish market north of Santa Barbara that sold these under another name.  So for the time being, all I really know about this crab is that it is found close to Santa Barbara in deep water and is closely related to a snow crab (according to the fishermen I bought this from).

Racer crabs are clean and feisty - the husband/wife team we bought from took precautions to keep appendages out of the way of the pincers, which are very sharp (as I learned firsthand later, slicing my thumb deeply while manually trying to crack the shell).  We bought four pounds of crabs, which totaled seven crabs.  As soon as we got home from the market, we threw the crabs in the fridge.  The next morning, I threw the crabs in a steam bath for ten minutes (treating them like blue crab), which was definitely enough time - but probably a hair too long.  

It took about an hour to pick the two crabs (again, she is an expert crab picker) - and we came away with just under a pound of meat, which put us at just under $23 per pound for actual meat (better than box crabs).  The cooked meat, without accoutrement, is sweet and satisfying - on par with snow crab.  The shells were perfect for making a crab stock, which we then used to make an amazing crab bisque.  Picking the meat was fairly comparable to picking blue crabs, a time consuming love afair.  All in all, our first experience with racer crabs was amazing.  I am at a loss as to why these crabs are not more widely available.  Abundant, relatively easy to catch (so we are told) and tasty.

If you have a positive identification on this crab - please let me know.  I'd love to learn more about the fishery and sustainability. 

Box Crabs - The First Taste

Brown Box Crab - Caught near the Channel Islands

This past weekend at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market we picked up some box crabs (our second box crab experience.  Box crabs are relatively pricey for crabs at the market, hitting $8.00 per pound.  However I will note that this price still seems good for crab.

Box crabs are a species of king crab and have sizable legs with large chunks of meat.  Brown box crabs are able to fold their legs in close to their body, in an almost perfect fit, leading to their common name.  They also have a unique circular opening in their claws that may help them feed.  The Box Crab is found from the coast of Alaska down to San Diego but is not widely marketed in southern California.

Since we have been visiting the fish market, Box Crabs have been a staple and should be available year round in San Diego.  The crabs available at the market were caught by trap off of the channel islands.  We ended up buying two spider crabs for dinner.  As soon as we got home from the market, we threw the crabs in the freezer for a humane numbing before their steam bath.  Our crabs averaged just under three pounds each, so after a twenty-two minute steam - eight minutes per pound (average weight of each crab) - and a quick cool down, Ingrid got down to picking the meat. 

It took about a half hour for Ingrid to pick the two crabs - again, Ingrid is an expert crab picker - and we came away with a pound and a half of meat, which put us at just under $30 per pound for actual meat.  The cooked meat, without accoutrement, is sweet and satisfying - on par with Alaskan King Crab.  Adding Old Bay seasoning (a Maryland Blue Crab Tradition), butter, and/or lemon, provided a little variety to the tasting.  Old Bay and butter was my preferred preparation.  Picking the meat was fairly comparable to picking Alaskan King Crab Legs, though with a few more sharp spines to watch out for.  All in all, our first few experiences with box crabs have been amazing.  I am at a loss as to why these crabs are not more widely available in grocery stores, which seem to only have king crab legs and snow crab legs shipped in from afar.  Abundant, relatively easy to catch (so we are told), tasty, and easy to pick. 

To read a 1992 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Box Crab, click here.

Spider Crabs (Sheep Crab) - The First Taste

Spider Crab Caught Off of Point Loma

On one of our recent trips to the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in downtown San Diego, Ingrid and I decided to buy some spider crabs.  The price seemed amazing, $2.50 per pound, especially considering they were being sold next to Spiny Lobster for $23.00 per pound.  While we were chatting to the fishermen (one of the benefits of the market), we learned that the spider crabs are caught while fishing for the lobsters - they are a byproduct of fishing for their much pricier neighbors.

A spider crab is a generic name given to a family of crabs called the Majidae.  Although the particular species of spider crabs that we bought was not divulged, after a bit of research, I believe it was likely the Sheep Crab.  The Sheep Crab is found off the coast of California from San Francisco to the Baha Peninsula.  As our fisherman noted, the Sheep Crab is usually considered a byproduct of lobster fishing.  According to the California Department of Fish and Game, this is likely due to the lack of available markets that will sell Sheep Crab and the hard shell, which makes processing the body meat uneconomical. 

Spider crabs are available year round in San Diego (if you can find them), and the crabs available at the market were caught off of Point Loma.  We ended up buying three spider crabs for our dinner that night - intending to process the crabs and figure out what to do with the meat later.  As soon as we got home from the market, we threw the crabs in the freezer for a humane numbing before their steam bath.  Our crabs averaged just over two pounds each, so after a seventeen minute steam - eight minutes per pound (average weight of each crab) - and a quick cool down, Ingrid got down to picking the meat. 

It took just over an hour for Ingrid to pick all three crabs - though I should mention that Ingrid is an expert crab picker (with significant experience in blue crabs) - and we came away with a few cups of crab meat from the lot - which was more meat than I expected - that tasted sweet and satisfying - on par with the more familiar and available snow crab and Alaskan king crab (and at a fraction of the cost).

Ultimately, our first spider crab experience proved worthwhile - great taste, low cost, moderate effort.

To read the California Department of Fish and Game's report on Sheep Crab, click here (click on the sheep crab link).