Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1 Live crab, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds
3 tb Olive oil
1 tb Shredded ginger
1 tb Chopped garlic
2 Serrano or other small
-green chiles, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 To 4 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste

To kill the crab, either plunge it into a large pot of boiling water
for a minute, or place it on its back on a cutting board and split
the body down the middle with one quick cut with a heavy knife or
Chinese cleaver. If you want to use the upper shell in the
presentation, the first technique works better.

Holding the crab body by the legs, pull off the shell. Discard the
feathery gills on both sides of the body and the spongy mass in the
middle of the back; rinse until nothing but shell and meat show.
Pull out the bits of greenish fat from the corners of the shell;
reserve if desired for the sauce. Rinse both the body and shell and
drain thoroughly.

Split the body of the crab (if it is not already split) into 2 halves
with legs and claws still attached. Carefully crack each leg and
claw segment with a mallet.

Place in a large bowl with the oil, ginger, garlic, chiles and a
generous grinding of pepper. Marinate for 1 to 4 hours in the
refrigerator.

Remove crab from marinade 15 minutes before cooking. Grill the
halves and the shell over a hot fire until outer shells are bright
red and meat in the largest sections is opaque (pry one open to
check), 3 to 4 minutes per side. Or , place crab halves and shell in
a roasting pan lightly oiled with a bit of the marinade and roast in
a 450F oven until done as described above, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, strain vegetables out of marinade and combine with the
butter in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes and season to taste.
Serve in small bowls as a dipping sauce for the crab.

Serves 2.

Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; December 13 1991.

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