I spend a lot of time gawking at the fish case at the local markets, and those big clusters of Alaskan king crab are usually the gnarliest things on ice with their long spiny legs. The lobsters get plenty of attention from me, too.
I don’t actually purchase these to cook at home for two reasons: sticker shock and my total lack of experience with handling and preparing them.
Alaskan king crab is usually priced between $25 to $30 per pound, and a cluster, which usually weighs around 2 pounds with three legs, a claw and shoulder meat, only has about 10 ounces of meat. It’s costly because of a very limited fishing season, and the job ranks as one of the most dangerous in the world. So if you are feeding a family, Ben Franklin will be making an appearance.
Lobster tails are more reasonable, priced at around $10 each. But they both seemed so delicate, I was afraid of not cooking them right on the grill, so it just seemed easier to let a chef do the cooking when the mood struck for king crab and lobster.
Still, I wanted to master the shellfish, so I reached out to a pair of San Antonio chefs who have plenty of experience handling them — Stephen Paprocki (Texas Black Gold Garlic) and P.J. Edwards (Meadow Neighborhood Eatery + Bar) — and the wall of intimidation was quickly reduced to rubble.
“Nobody wants to ruin them, so that’s usually what brings the pause, and you’ll just decide it’s easier to cook a steak or a piece of salmon instead,” Paprocki said. “The key is to treat them gently, and don’t get into any sort of rush. Also, heavier is better, especially with the crab. It should feel solid in your hand.”
King crab and lobster can be cooked in multiple ways: boiled, steamed, baked or grilled. Of course, we grilled in the Food Shack.
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“(Grilling) is always a great option because it allows you to pick up additional flavor elements from the wood and charcoal,” Edwards said. “It’s also valid because that’s how most of the home cooks are doing it during the summer months, and it’s a good, light meal option.”
Now for the shocker regarding king crab. Unless you are getting them fresh off the boat in Alaska, the king crab has already been precooked for you as a means of preservation. Fisherman can spend weeks at a time pursuing their catches. So you are really just re-heating.
Edwards’ method is simple and smooth. He recommends keeping the crab in clusters, which usually have three legs, a claw and shoulder meat, for easier handling and cook them over indirect heat for about 10 total minutes, until the crab takes on some char markings from the grill and changes color from orange into a light shade of red.
The lobster can get a little trickier, but is also a quick 10-minute cook. Both Edwards and Paprocki prefer to get them live out of the tank, then split the animals in half lengthwise, dress them up and cook them. That was a little fancier than I felt comfortable with as a first-timer, so I limited myself to the grilling the tails.
When prepping lobster tails, kitchen shears are your friend. The shell is tough, and you need to run the length of the tail to expose the meat and pry it away slightly from the shell. Some restaurants remove the meat entirely from the shell and set it on top, but for home grilling, it’s a good idea to leave the shell on as an insulator.
Once the shell is opened up, take a knife and slide it into the meat and open it up a little. There might be some brownish remnants that need to be removed. Then slide a wooden skewer lengthwise into the tails, which will help keep the meat from curling up.
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Edwards cooks his lobster hot, starting directly over the coals and giving it a strong butter basting before moving it to a cooler zone. “Hot and fast is the way to go, because if you take too much time with lobster, the meat has a tendency to get a little mushy,” Edwards said.
Paprocki recommends starting hot also, but he finishes it off in a cast iron pan loaded with herbs and lots of melted butter.
“You don’t have to (put it in the pan), but it gives you more control and some insurance that it won’t get overcooked,” Paprocki said. “Plus the way the herbs and butter marry with that charcoal flavor is heaven.”
Most grills should be able to handle a pair of crab clusters and four to five lobster tails, making it easy to do it all in that same 10-minute window. The process was so easy, it made me feel silly for not doing it 20 years ago.
The only limit is the number of Benjamins in my bank account.
Recipe: Grilled King Crab Legs
Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.comTo read more from Chuck, become a subscriber. cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver
The Link LonkAugust 18, 2020
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Chuck’s Food Shack: How to grill a seafood bounty of Alaskan king crab legs and lobster tails - San Antonio Express-News
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