Kirk's steamed or boiled crab recipe

Delicious crab! Central to the identity of San Francisco, it is the very symbol of Fisherman's wharf. Now that you've got it, what will you do with it? Don't blink, here goes:

KirkCRAB.jpg

Ingredients:

  • two dungeness crab

  • big pot of boiling water and a steamer basket if you want to steam

  • beer

Method:

  1. ​Set your pot to boiling. Either a couple inches under a steamer basket if you’re steaming, or a full pot if you want to boil

  2. Open a beer

  3. Pour half the beer in the pot of boiling water, and the other half in you

  4. add your crabs to the boiling water so they're fully immersed

  5. note: if your crabs are halved and cleaned, you may want to steam them rather than immerse them, in which case use less liquid and set them on a steamer basket in your pot

  6. cook for 10-12 minutes

  7. pull 'em out, crack, and enjoy! Cheers!

I like to use a meat hammer to crack my crabs and snack as I go, but to each their own. Serve with melted butter (or lemon-garlic butter: melt the butter in a skillet, add 1 small clove of garlic, cook on low to avoid burning the butter, add juice of half a lemon).

ShellfishCamilla LombardDungeness Crab