Frozen crab meat(see photo) - not so long ago a well-known semi-finished product, which is currently being actively replaced by a real delicacy. This product is made from surimi - a peeled and finely chopped fillet of oceanic fish, which are most often mackerel, pollock or herring.
It is worth noting that such a fake of natural crab meat is in great demand today. She, like crab sticks, is an integral part of many cuisines of the world.
Imitation crab meat was first prepared by the Japanese in 1100. During this period of time, it was noticed in Japan that minced meat obtained from white fish (today it is called surimi) has no smell and taste. It is for this reason that fakes of various seafood, including crab meat, began to be created using a tasteless product and aromatic herbs.
Depending on the manufacturers, such a product may differ not only in taste, but also in calories and chemical composition. However, the color quality meat must remain unchanged - white!
Use in cooking
In cooking, crab meat is most often used as an ingredient in many delicacies. A lot of luxurious dishes have been created on the basis of this product, and these are not only salads, as many people think, but also various snacks, casseroles and even cakes.
With the use of such a delicacy ingredient, you can cook an excellent romantic dinner and also just very Tasty dinner, which is perfect for a festive feast. Crab meat goes well with such products:
- eggs;
- fresh cucumbers;
- cheese;
- fresh herbs;
- corn;
- rice
- various canned food, etc.
Very often, tartlets are prepared from crab meat, as well as sushi and canapes. Some chefs make sandwiches with this delicacy, and also original pancakes, profiteroles and scrambled eggs.
If a this product use as an independent dish, it is better to take natural crab meat. There are few ways to prepare it. At home, such a product can be fried or boiled. Note! Before subjecting heat treatment meat must be thawed and washed. It is recommended to defrost it naturally, without using hot water and similar defrosting methods. It is better to fry crab meat on olive oil before the advent golden brown, and you need to cook it in lightly salted water for no more than fifteen minutes.
Crab meat has a very delicate texture, when cooked it is very fragrant and pleasant to the taste.
Useful properties of frozen crab meat
Due to the high content of vital minerals, frozen crab meat has many beneficial properties. It also contains vitamins, proteins, lipids and amino acids. Among the trace elements contained in this product, sodium, iodine, phosphorus and sulfur can be distinguished.
Due to its low calorie content, crab meat is recognized as one of the best dietary products. In addition, the delicacy is useful in the following cases:
- with impaired work of the heart and blood vessels;
- with diseases of the endocrine system;
- with anemia;
- with poor eyesight;
- with obesity;
- in disorders of the nervous system.
Despite the rich composition, it is highly not recommended to abuse this product, since, in addition to surimi, it often contains harmful nutritional supplements(dyes, flavors, etc.)
Frozen crab meat is a delicious delicacy that you can truly enjoy!
Seafood has always been considered a delicacy. For many years they enjoyed great honor at festive receptions, they were and remain an elite and prestigious product. In addition, nutritionists consider it an excellent set for preserving female beauty. After all, they contain almost 40 important trace elements, including iron, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, copper and fluorine, which help maintain skin, nails, hair in excellent shape and are involved in metabolic processes. It is customary to include all invertebrates that live on the seabed to this type of product. They are divided into two main groups: crustaceans and molluscs. The former have a protective shell, they include crayfish, lobsters, lobsters, squids and crabs. There are over 10 edible varieties of crabs. They are sold whole carcasses, both live and frozen. And they cook crabs, as a rule, alive in the shell, and the pulp is taken out after cooking. We offer you a recipe for how to cook crabs, which, in the form of an appetizer, are perfect for a beer at a picnic. Also on our website you will find other seafood dishes that will become a true decoration of any holiday table.
How to cook crabs, ingredients:
- Crabs - 3 kg;
- Purified water - 7-8 liters;
- Onions - 3 heads;
- Carrots - 3 pcs.;
- Bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
- A mixture of ground peppers -1 teaspoon;
- Dill greens - 15 branches;
- Dry dill - 1 teaspoon;
- Sea salt - 150 g.
How to cook small crabs for beer, recipe:
1. Rinse live crabs in cold water. The abdomen should be washed especially carefully, for this it is better to use a strong shower jet. Before cooking, put the crabs for an hour in freezer then it will be easier to deal with them.
Advice:
Seafood is highly perishable and is often sold frozen, boiled or canned ready to eat. However perfect option- buy live crustaceans, the mobility of which will be irrefutable proof of their freshness. The more actively it moves, the fresher. The crab should be mobile and heavy. 
2. Rinse vegetables and herbs. Cut carrots and onions into large pieces. 
3. Boil water in a saucepan. Since crabs are usually cooked in sea water, use sea salt at the rate of 20 g per 1 liter of liquid. Seafood is boiled not only in water, but also, if desired, in a spicy or spicy broth. To prepare the broth, add chopped vegetables, spices to the water. 
4. Boil for 10 minutes. At the end, add dry dill and whole sprigs. 
5. Carefully holding the leg so that the crab does not pinch you, immerse it in boiling salt water. After a short time, the crustaceans will sink to the bottom and change the color of the shell to red. Make the fire smaller and boil large crabs up to 20, medium - 10-15, and small crabs will be enough for 6-7 minutes. If you make several bookmarks, the subsequent cooking time should be slightly reduced.
Advice:
how much to cook. Crabs are much tenderer than meat, since they have a small amount of connective tissue, which means they cook faster. In addition, crab meat has a pronounced taste, and therefore requires minimal processing during cooking. You should strictly adhere to the recommendations on how much to cook crabs, since exceeding the duration of thermal exposure will cause the meat to become tough, “rubber”. Crabs are considered ready if the small claws can be easily separated from the body. 
Remove the crabs from the water and place them on the ice with their tummy up so that the juice does not flow out. So the cold will cool the carcasses faster, and the meat will be easier to remove.
About the benefits of crabs:
Like many other marine life, crabs contain an incredible amount of iodine, a fairly deficient element that is not produced by the human body on its own. Related to this is the use of crabs in the fight against the occurrence of thyroid diseases. Doctors say that when eating only 20 or 50 grams of crab meat, you can get daily rate iodine. 
Any hostess knows that cooked crab meat, as is customary, is used in. On our website, their recipes are presented in a wide selection. Following simple advice how to cook crabs, the process of cooking crustaceans will become easy and enjoyable for you.
Crab for different dishes can be cooked both as a whole and cut up. Boiled sea crayfish has amazing taste and can become a full-fledged dish or an ingredient. Many housewives are interested in the question of how much crab should be cooked so as not to spoil the tender meat. Crayfish, familiar to everyone in cooking, has tougher meat, therefore, in the case of its fellow, certain and important nuances must be taken into account.
Cooking in a pot
Cooking crab in already boiling water is quite simple if you know a few recommendations:
- The readiness of the dish is indicated by the unnatural color of its shell, which turns red.
- If you decide to cook this product, you need to know that common additions are bay leaves, fragrant garlic, lemon juice, bright-smelling cloves and regular pepper, as well as salt.
- Frozen crab must be defrosted in advance in order to cook it correctly and quickly.
- It is required to lower the meat exclusively into boiling water, where all the spices were added in advance.
- Cooking even a little longer than the set time of 15-20 minutes is not worth it.
- It is recommended to use sea salt for more delicious cooking.
- If you cook the whole product, you need to wait for the moment of cooling so that the crab is placed with its belly up.
- It is very important to focus on the amount of liquid: 2.5 liters of water are required for 500 grams of product.
- If you have butchered meat, you can easily cook it in a pressure cooker, steamer, microwave, or slow cooker.
Cooking can be the most diverse, so you can unusually experiment with different recipes and spices. You can create a separate full meal, add to salads, snacks or it is appropriate to serve with beer.
Tip: the crab is cooked until fully cooked, otherwise there is a risk of severe poisoning of its meat.
cooking limbs
Crayfish claws are prepared in such a way as to fully preserve the natural juiciness of their pulp, its delicate taste, aroma, useful minerals. Cooking should be carried out on very high and even maximum heat.
To get delicious claws, salt, cloves, lemon juice, bay leaves and other spices are added to a pot of water. After that, you can lower the product itself. When preparing pre-frozen claws, it is enough just to quickly scald them with boiling water.
It takes only 15-20 minutes to bring claws of Kamchatka or another type to readiness. Before serving the meat directly, you can sprinkle it with fresh lemon juice and sprinkle generously with any herbs. As alcoholic drink perfect for white wine.
If you are planning to surprise your guests with some exotic dish, but at the same time you absolutely do not want to spend half a day in the kitchen in the process of preparing it, try serving crab meat served in its own shell or small crabs boiled whole in spicy brine. Don't know how to cook crab? It's so simple!
Now in large supermarkets and shopping centers, crabs are sold in any form - large and small, in the form of canned food, live and boiled-frozen, whole or chopped. All of them, of course, are somewhat different from each other in preparation and methods of serving.
How to cook crab
Live Kamchatka crabs are considered to be the most valuable and delicious. If you are lucky enough to get such a handsome man, we advise you to do the following with him:
- Immerse the crab for an hour in fresh water, clean its shell with a stiff brush.
- Get a pot large enough to fit your crab in. Pour water into it, salt it steeply at the rate of one and a half tablespoons of salt per liter, and put on fire. When the water boils, put the peeled carrots, onion, a little dill and allspice into the water, wait a few minutes and lower the crab into boiling water. If desired, you can add half a glass of white wine to the broth.
- We cook a crab weighing about one and a half kilograms with a slight boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Smaller specimens 10 - 12 minutes.
- The crab is ready. Now it must be pulled out of the pan and cooled, laying on its back.
- Cut the crab, open the shell and remove the brown meat from it. Gently split the legs and claws with tongs, remove the white crab meat from them. Thoroughly clean the shell, rinse and dry. Serve chopped crab meat in it, laying it out separately by grade, and garnishing with chopped eggs and parsley.
We will not talk in detail about how to cook frozen crab. The principle of its preparation is the same, only the cooking time should be reduced to 5 minutes for small crabs and 10 minutes for larger ones. Small crabs are served whole, like crayfish. They are especially good with beer or dry white wine.
Now a few words about how to cook crab claws. Of course, they can be boiled, as well as a whole frozen crab, but there are more interesting recipe- steamed claws.
Take a double boiler, fill it to the right level with water, add half a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of sea salt and bring it to a boil. Place the crab claws on the wire rack, steam covered for 7 to 8 minutes and serve.
And, finally, for lovers of exotic and gourmets, one more unusual recipe how to cook crab meat. Cut the finished crab meat (200 gr.) into strips, sprinkle it with lemon juice and leave for a quarter of an hour.
Peel two large peaches, remove the stones, cut the flesh into small cubes and mix with crabs. Dress the salad with homemade mayonnaise, add a little grated ginger and mix gently. Salad ready.
Boil any crabs in a large amount of abundantly salted boiling water over medium heat, covered with a lid. Boil small crabs.
Crabs of medium size (0.5 - 1.5 kilograms) are boiled - after boiling.
Large crabs (1.5-3 kilograms) are boiled -.
How to cook crabs
Crabs keep in sea water until it boils a large number of water. It is important to use cool water so that the claws do not fall off from the temperature difference. It is recommended to cook crabs in sea water, which can be salted to taste.When the water boils, put the crabs in the water, add spices and herbs wrapped in gauze to taste. Cook crabs by weight - small 7 minutes, medium 15, large 20. After the crabs are cooked, pour ice water over them.
Red crabs are already boiled, they just need to be warmed up.
How to cook big crabs
What you needCrab - 2 kilograms
Bay leaf - 1 piece
Black pepper - 5 peas
Carnation - 2 pieces
Sea salt - 2 tablespoons
Garlic - 1 prong
Lemon - 1 piece
How to butcher a crab before cooking
1. Put the crab on the work surface (table) belly up, tear off the claws.
2. Using a knife, open the shell, remove the crab meat, remove the mucus and gills. Everything else in boiled crab is edible.
3. Cut the claws and pull out the meat.
4. Fill the crabs with ice water.
How to cook crabs
1. Pour water into a large saucepan and put on fire.
2. Put lavrushka, pepper, cloves and salt into the water.
3. Peel the garlic, put it through a garlic press and put it into the water.
4. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water.
5. As soon as the water boils, put the crabs and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Serve crabs whole, or chopped meat of boiled crab in shell.
7. Put the crab for 5 minutes in cold water with ice to complete the cooking of crabs.
Fun facts about crabs
Important when cooking crabs1. It is necessary to cook live crabs until ready, otherwise there is a risk of serious poisoning.
2. Boiled crabs - deep red.
3. If the crabs are overcooked, they will be "rubber", not tasty.
4. For cooking crabs, sea water is used, or sea salt is diluted in the water in which the crabs will be boiled (1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water).
5. After cooking the crab, tear off the tail and chat a little in boiling water so that the “hay”, the so-called marine debris, flies out.
6. It is better to cool the crab by laying it back down on a dish - this will allow the crab juice to remain.
7. The age of a crab can be determined when cutting a crab - the younger it is, the more difficult it is to open the shell.
8. Serve boiled crabs delicious with lemon, greens and pleasure. :-)
9. Before serving, boiled crabs can be garnished with herbs, olives, black olives, cheese, lettuce.
How to choose crabs
It is necessary to choose the most active live crabs.
How to store crabs
Store live crabs in the refrigerator - in the vegetable compartment. Keep boiled crabs covered in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. Frozen crab meat is stored for 1 year.
Shelf life of cooked crab- 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Calorie boiled crab- 85 kcal / 100 grams.
crab cost fresh from 2,000 rubles / 1 kilogram, salted crab - 1,200 rubles / 250 grams, frozen crab meat costs from 1,000 rubles. (data as of June 2017).
Useful properties of boiled crab meat due to the content of B vitamins in it (metabolism, cardiovascular system, brain and nervous system function), vitamin A (skin, nails, hair, the immune system, vision). Crab meat also contains micro and macro elements: iodine (thyroid health, metabolism), potassium (skeletal system, arterial pressure), sodium (muscle tissue, promotes digestion), zinc (bone formation, memory, brain activity), calcium (metabolism, bone tissue renewal), magnesium (immune processes, nervous system).
