King Crab

The King crab is the largest of all crab species by far. They are of such a size that they have the most firmest meats with a very different and individual flavour in contrast to the other species.

King crab is difficult to get hold of and is very regional specific, so if you are lucky enough to get your hands on it, don't let the chance slip by you. They are usually supplied pre-cooked and frozen, thus meaning you don't really have to cook them, but simply re-heat them to your satisfaction. You don't want to boil or steam them longer than necessary as this will induce a loss of the unique texture that the King crab comprises, and this is what makes this type of shell fish so special. You can remove the shell before hand if you wish or you can simply cook all at once with the shell and all. This will take a slightly longer time to cook and a suggestion would be to boil them for approximately 10 minutes. If your meat is frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge, remove the shell and simply cut into large chunks. With the meat, you could even shallow fry for a short time and mix it in with a stir fry.

There is of course the traditional way of cooking crab meat and that is by boiling and serving with melted butter and lemon wedges with a little salt and even some black pepper.

The problem with this species of crab is that the popularity in past years has decreased its abundance within our waters. This has caused massive increases in prices and lower amounts for people to try. So as previously stated, if you get the chance, try it, as it will be worth the money. In due time, there may not be any more to try so grab it while it is here

  Price trends 

The majority of King crab that is being caught is going to Japan. The price has increased from about $11 a pound to approximately $13.50. This reflects an increase demand for many restaurants.

 Buying tips 

More restaurants are wanting to bring King crab in due to increasing popularity as a delicacy. Being available from October time be sure to develop a close bond with your supplier as they could easily do you out of money.

The industry standard is 5 percent maximum. Be sure to sample shipments regularly, or your crab supplier could be making more money than he should.

 Culinary notes

When many top chefs are paying top dollar ($30-40 per pound), they don't really want to fool around with it. Most restaurants will simply serve as stated above, boiled, melted butter and lemon. many other restaurants try new methods and try to be fancy, but a recommendation would be to simply try it the classic way and taste this shell fish they way it is meant to be tasted.

Peeler Crab