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How to Dissect a Crab

Twisting the legs off a cooked crab

Do not be afraid of crabs! Once you have mastered the art of how to dissect a crab, then a world of amazing recipes from crab bisque to hot dressed crab to creamy crab linguine and beyond opens right up for you. So no need to worry if you can’t tell your dead man’s fingers from your white meat because The Seafood Shack-ers Kirsty & Fenella are here to tell you exactly what to to!

Take One Cooked Crab

  1. Twist off all the legs, small and large. Sometimes the feathery grey gills called ‘dead man’s fingers’ will come out with the large claws – these are not good to eat and will make you feel sick so make sure to discard them. Most of the time they will be in the body.
  2. Put the crab on its back so its tummy is upwards. You will see the crab’s two eyes, and below these there are two small flaps. Move these aside and push down on the slightly softer shell underneath with both your thumbs.
  3. Push hard to crack through…
  4. Then you can pull out the middle section of the body.
  5. Inside it looks like a bit of a mess, but you can eat everything EXCEPT the dead man’s fingers.
  6. Don’t worry – they’re so distinctive you can’t miss them – they look just like feathers.
  7. Pick through the rest of the meat and put it in a bowl. This is where you will find most of the brown meat.
  8. Now have a wee tidy up and start on removing the white meat from the leg and claws. Get the larger legs first and tear the claw from the leg. There will be two small pieces of cartilage – just make sure they don’t go into your crab meat bowl. Use a pick or a claw tip to get the meat from the leg.
  9. Now for the claw. Get a large, heavy spoon or a knife (choose one you’re not that fond of). Place the claw flat on a board and crack it in the middle with the blunt side of your knife or the curved side of the spoon, then turn it over and do the other side. Remove the bottom part of the shell and you should be left with half a cracked claw. Give it a rinse to remove any loose shell. You can either leave it like this or get all the meat out with a pick – just watch for the large think piece of cartilage in the middle.
  10. Always make sure you thoroughly pick through your white crab meat as you’ll often find small pieces of shell in it. There’s nothing worse than chewing down onto a hard piece of shell! You now know how to dissect a crab and need never be scared again.
Twisting the legs off a cooked crab
Move aside the flaps below the eyes of the crab
Push your thumbs through the shell of the crab
Pull out the middle section of the crab body
the dead man's fingers
Pick out the brown meat
pick the white meat from from the legs
Crack the shell off the claw
The white meat of the crab in a bowl

Now…

Get yourself a copy of The Seafood Shack – Food & Tales from Ullapool and make something delicious!

Sarah Savoy’s Fried Chicken

a chicken, jointed, before being fried
Author, chef and musician Sarah Savoy and her classic fried chicken recipe
Here is Sarah Savoy’s recipe for Fried Chicken from her book The Savoy Kitchen – A Family History of Cajun Food. It’s a real American – and Cajun – classic.

“There are many things I often just assume people know how to do because I grew up doing them, and I’m often surprised when people say, ‘Oh my goodness, how did you make this [insert any ordinary dish here, like fried chicken, meatloaf, etc.]?’

So let me just toss in this one random soul food comfort meal. Serve it up with mashed potatoes, a side of corn macque choux and maybe some biscuits and gravy. To stop it being a complete carb overload, smothered okra is also great with fried chicken.”

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, jointed into 10 pieces
  • 500ml buttermilk
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • A dash of hot sauce (or more to taste)
  • 300g plain flour
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • cayenne
  • vegetable oil for frying

Prep

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl with the buttermilk and add the dry mustard, thyme and a dash of hot sauce. Season the chicken with salt, black pepper and cayenne and mis well, then leave it in the fridge for at least one and a half hours, turning the pieces every thirty minutes.

Pour off as much of the buttermilk as you can, then mix the flour in with the chicken pieces to coat them. The batter will be very sticky and moist.

Frying Your Chicken

Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed skillet with enough oil to cover the largest piece of chicken and heat the oil until it’s hot but not smoking. Working in batches, place the chicken pieces in the oil and fry on each side for at least eight minutes or until the juices run clear when you pierce near the bone with a small, sharp knife. Thighs take the longest – up to twenty minutes a side. Once cooked, remove the pieces, drain them on a bed of paper towels and transfer to the oven for only as long as it takes you to cook the other pieces.

Note:

While you’ve got the oil hot, why not mix up a batch of hush puppies to eat with the chicken? Mix up 240g cornmeal, 110g flour, 1/2 tsp bicarb, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, half a small onion (finely chopped), 250ml milk or buttermilk and an egg. Throw in some chopped jalapeños or crab meat if you have any and drop the batter by tablespoons into the hot oil. Fry on all sides until golden brown and drain on paper towels.

Note:

You can either fry the chicken wings as well, or freeze them to make hot wings another day.

Buy The Savoy Kitchen – A Family History of Cajun Food here

Scottishstani Spiced Winter Squash and Tattie Scone Paratha

illustrated recipe for scottishstani spiced paratha by sumayya usmani

Recipe by

Sumayya Usmani

From

Tomorrow’s Kitchen – A Graphic Novel Cookbook

cartoon recipe for Scottishstani Spiced Winter Squash and Tattic Scone Paratha by Sumayya Usmani
Illustration by Shuangshuang Hao

Sumayya says about this lovely recipe for Scottishstani Paratha: ‘This recipe I share with you now has to be the one that gives me the most comfort. As a child, I would wake up on a Sunday morning to be greeted by the smokey scent of fresh parathas being made on the tawa (flat griddle pan), my mouth watering in anticipation of breakfast. My mother made these by mixing leftover mashed potato bhujia into flour to make thick breads with generous amounts of fresh coriander, green chilli, cumin and ghee. When I moved to Glasgow, I was amazed at how similar parathas were to tattie scones – leftover mash mixed with flour and butter, best cooked on a cast iron ‘girdle’. For me, this is my go-to breakfast now.’

Ingredients

  • 60g butternut squash, roasted until soft
  • 1 medium potato, peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed
  • 100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
  • 2 tsp coriander, finely chopped
  • 6 mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • 3-4 tbsp ghee or coconut oil

How to make your Scottishstani Paratha

Mix all the ingredients except the ghee in a large bowl. Stir in the melted ghee, a little at a time, until the mixture reaches a dough-like consistency.

Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough into tennis ball-sized pieces. Cover with a damp cloth.

Heat a griddle pan, tawa or frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add a little ghee, then reduce the heat to medium.

On a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a 6mm-thick patty. Place in the hot ghee and cook gently, pressing down the corners with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper, to ensure it browns evenly. When one side is cooked – about 3-4 minutes – turn over and cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining dough and enjoy your Scottishstani Paratha!!!

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