Have you ever cooked a crab?

As of yesterday, I can now say I have.

It was my wonderful husbands 29th birthday, and the day started off like it does every year...snowing. If there is any day in the year where I can personally guarantee wet weather, it is the 15th of October. I've learned my lesson over the years, never to plan outdoor events for Jason's birthday.

However, that does not mean I can't have some fun cooking in the kitchen.

I asked Jason to name anything he wanted to have for his birthday dinner. Never did I think he was going to say "Crab".

"Like crab cakes?"

"No...like LIVE crab"

"...ok, what?"

Now I have my work cut out for me. Not only have I never cooked crab before, but I have never had KILL my dinner before.

So, it begins at the T and T Asian Market.
I've been there once before. For any of you living in Calgary, this is one of the neatest supermarkets I've been too. They literally have anything you could imagine (or never want too) - quail eggs, squid, dried anchovy chips, even frozen turtle. If you can manage to stomach some of what you see, there is much to be desired. Their fresh seafood department is one of the best I've seen, and the most reasonably priced. However we were so confused as to how to get our crab. You see, they have an open trough of crab, and some tongs...like we are supposed to get them ourselves.

...we're supposed to get them ourselves.

I'm a bit squeamish when in comes to crustaceans. Crabs and lobsters intimidate me. Their large claws look strong enough to clip off your fingers. And these particular crabs, had no bands around their claws...nope, they were ready to cut something, like scissors to paper...or my pinkie.

I'm a little disheartened that throughout the picking process, I forgot to take pictures. Taking 3 crabs from the trough was quite the adventure.

We took our capture to the Wiens parents, Walt and Elaine, who graciously offered their kitchen to cook the crab.

Now I have pictures. Feast your eyes on our three crabs "Sebastian 1, Sebastian 2, and Sebastian 3".



Now before I proceed, I must advise anyone that finds this cruel or inhumane, to stop reading. Consider this your warning.









The Sebastians made for a wonderful birthday dinner :)

So, as this is a cooking blog, I will share some of the things I have learned throughout this process.

1. Go to the T&T Supermarket in the NE for fresh seafood. These three crab fed 5 people, and were only $25 total.
2. Cook them for 7 - 8 min per pound. These guys were 1.2lbs each, and 10 minutes of cooking was perfect!
3. Always have someone else with you - in case you don't have the heart to boil them yourself.
4. Google how to crack a crab. I would explain, but it would require another blog post as this one is already long enough :P Besides...that's what I did.

I hope you all enjoyed this post. Next post I promise will include a recipe, one that I'm quite fond of :).

Bon Appétit