Roasted Marinated Crab
Submitted by snowbabi
Roasted marinated crab with ginger, garlic, and serrano chiles served with a butter dipping sauce. Whole crab is marinated up to 4 hours, then grilled or oven-roasted until bright red and opaque.
YIELD
2 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
15 minREADY
2 hrsThis is hands-on, sleeves-rolled-up cooking. A whole live crab gets broken down, cracked, and soaked in a bold marinade of olive oil, fresh ginger, garlic, and fiery serrano chiles before hitting a hot grill or a screaming-hot oven.
The marinade does double duty. It flavors the crab during the soak, then the strained aromatics get simmered in butter to make a rich dipping sauce you’ll want to drink straight. Crack the legs and claws before marinating so the flavors actually penetrate the meat, not just coat the shell.
Grilling gives you charred, smoky edges on the shell. The oven method is more forgiving and still delivers bright red shells with sweet, juicy meat inside. Either way, check the thickest leg sections for opaque meat before pulling.
Chef Tips
- The boiling-water method for killing the crab preserves the top shell intact if you want to use it for plating.
- Crack the claws firmly but not so hard you shatter them. You want fissures, not fragments.
- Let the crab come to room temperature for 15 minutes after marinating for more even cooking.
- Don’t skip the black pepper in the marinade. A generous grinding adds a slow heat that builds alongside the chiles.
Variations
- Swap serrano chiles for Thai bird chiles if you want more punch.
- Add a squeeze of lime juice to the butter sauce right before serving for brightness.
Ingredients
Directions
To kill the crab, either plunge it into a large pot of boiling water for a minute, or place it on its back on a cutting board and split the body down the middle with one quick cut with a heavy knife or Chinese cleaver.
If you want to use the upper shell in the presentation, the first technique works better.
Holding the crab body by the legs, pull off the shell.
Discard the feathery gills on both sides of the body and the spongy mass in the middle of the back; rinse until nothing but shell and meat show.
Pull out the bits of greenish fat from the corners of the shell; reserve if desired for the sauce.
Rinse both the body and shell and drain thoroughly.
Split the body of the crab (if it is not already split) into 2 halves with legs and claws still attached.
Carefully crack each leg and claw segment with a mallet.
Place in a large bowl with the oil, ginger, garlic, chiles and a generous grinding of pepper.
Marinate for 1 to 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Remove crab from marinade 15 minutes before cooking.
Grill the halves and the shell over a hot fire until outer shells are bright red and meat in the largest sections is opaque (pry one open to check), 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Or, place crab halves and shell in a roasting pan lightly oiled with a bit of the marinade and roast in a 450F oven until done as described above, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, strain vegetables out of marinade and combine with the butter in a saucepan.
Simmer for 5 minutes and season to taste.
Serve in small bowls as a dipping sauce for the crab.
Serves 2.
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