Green Crab Scampi

 
 

 By Mary Parks | 45 minutes

Scampi can refer to a specific species of prawn (Nephrops norvegicus); however, in the states, it most often refers to a shrimp or seafood dish cooked in butter, garlic, and wine. For our spin on scampi, we used green crab legs instead of shrimp and added a little heat with Piri Piri sauce. By pushing the green crab leg base into the body, you can remove the legs in two pieces from either side. The result is a lollipop of meat attached to four crab legs which makes the perfect replacement for shrimp in a scampi dish (or any dish that uses tail-on shrimp). 

To note, we shucked the crab legs off of live crabs during this process. While this may seem cruel to some, it’s actually a much faster way of killing the crabs compared to boiling or steaming them. That being said, if you don’t want to shuck crab legs off of live crabs you can either freeze your crabs for two hours and then shuck the legs or spear the crabs between the eyes with a pin. If you are shucking crab legs off of live crabs, just make sure you’re wearing protective gloves to be safe. 

You’ll want to use male green crabs for this process since female crabs have an apron which makes shucking the legs off in one piece difficult.  


MATERIALS & INGREDIENTS

  • Protective gloves

  • live male green crabs (we recommend at least 4 per serving)

  • ½ cup butter

  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced

  • 6 cloves of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped

  • Something spicy to taste (we used 2 Tbsp of Piri Piri) 

  • 1 cup of dry white wine

  • salt to taste

  • 1 lemon (juice and zest)

  • A scrunch of parsley


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Sort male from female crabs. Look at the underbelly shape to distinguish male from female crabs. Female crabs have a more rounded underbelly with an “apron” whereas males lack an apron and have a more triangular shape pattern. 

    * Female crabs can be used for stock or shucked for green crab roe

  2. Prior to shucking, rinse your crabs in cold water. Make sure to do this immediately before cooking with the crabs since fresh water isn’t good for live crabs. 

  3. With gloves on, hold the male crab by its outer points with your non-dominant hand. With your dominant hand, hold four legs on one side together. Then apply pressure, quickly pushing inward to snap off the four legs and a clump of meat. Repeat this process on the other side of the crab.  To make this process easier, try freezing the crabs for two hours and then defrost them. If you want to kill the crab prior to shucking, drive a thick pin between the eyes of the crab. 

    *Save the crab bodies for the sauce

  4. After removing your desired amount of crab legs, remove any gills that may be stuck to the crab legs and rinse the legs well under cold water. 

  5. Heat ½ a cup of butter in a pan on medium-high heat. 

  6. Add shallots, crab bodies, and garlic to the butter and cook for two minutes until the butter becomes fragrant with the crab. 

  7. Add wine and Piri Piri and reduce by half, cooking for about 3 minutes. 

  8. Add crab legs, spoon the buttery crab mixture over the legs, and toss frequently just until the crab legs are fully red. 

  9. Remove the crab legs from heat and take out the crab bodies (these bodies can be added to a stock). 

  10. Squeeze half a lemon and sprinkle parsley and lemon zest on top of the scampi. We like to serve this straight in the pan with toasted bread; however, you can also use the sauce in a pasta dish!

We developed this recipe for a demo with Wulf’s Fish and Kittch. To order green crabs from Wulf’s or watch the demo, visit this page.