Alaskan King Crab Legs and Vietnamese Mussels
How to perfectly cook king crab legs along with 2 Vietnamese dipping sauces (butter cilantro, and lemons with pepper/salt).
+ PLUS
A Vietnamese spin to a french classic, steamed mussels in butter/wine sauce. Steamed mussels are tossed in an aromatic Vietnamese inspired butter/wine sauce of shallots, cilantro, and lemongrass.
ALASKAN KING CRAB LEGS
To steam crab legs: Defrost your crab legs if frozen overnight in fridge (do not thaw on counter), add 1 tbs sea salt and a couple cups of water into a pot with a steamer. Steam for 4-6 minutes until heated through!
Today we are steaming up some beautiful Alaskan King Crab Legs & Claws. They are Snow white and have a wonderful light sweetness to them. These are precooked and frozen so all you have to do is steam in salted water to defrost and enjoy!
Boil, or steam? Most resources say steaming them is the best way to preserve flavor we're going to fill 1/3 of a pot with water with some salt and steam for about 5-6 min. We whipped up some fresh dipping sauces including lemon with salt/pepper, butter with some fresh minced garlic and cilantro!
Dip #1: Vietnamese butter dip with minced garlic and chopped cilantro.
Dip #2: Fresh squeezed lemon juice with black pepper and a pinch of salt.
INGREDIENTS
1-3 lbs King crab legs (we got ours from Citarella, -here-)
1 tbs salt
1-3 cups of water
PREPARATION
1. Upon receiving your crab legs, place the crab in your refrigerator to thaw overnight (8-12 hours). The next day, it will be ready to cook.
2. Place two cups of water and a tablespoon of salt in a pot and bring it to a boil. The pot should be about one-third of the way filled with water, if not add a couple cups of water until it is 1/3 filled.
BOILING: If you want to boil crab legs, fill pot with water, add 1 tbs sea salt, and let boil. Add crab legs, lower to a simmer over medium heat for 6-8 min.
3. Add crab legs in, set it ontop of a collander or steaming basket/rack above water, cover and steam for 5-7 minutes until heated through. When it starts to smell like steamed crab it's cooked.
4. Transfer to cutting board and smash legs for easier eating
STEAMED MUSSELS IN A VIETNAMESE-FRENCH BUTTER/WINE SAUCE
Cut mussels from bag, netting, and store in a large bowl with a damp cloth above mussels so they can breathe, and so they won't dry out or die.
INGREDIENTS
1 two lb bag of mussels (cleaned, rinsed)
2 tbs Teaseed oil (Or Light EVOO, or any other light neutral cooking oil)
3 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs minced lemongrass stalk (white parts only)
1 small shallot onion (finely chopped)
4 garlic cloves (sliced thin)
1 bag of Prince Edward Island Mussels (I got mine from Citarella)
1 tbs oyster sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
2 scallion bunches (sliced diagonally)
1 bunch cilantro loosely chopped (leaves and stem)1 thai red chilli (sliced at diagonal)
1 jalepeno pepper (sliced thin on the diagonal)
PREPARATION
1. Wash, clean mussels. Remove beards and throw out any mussels that are cracked. If any mussels are open lightly tap them on the counter, if they don't close out that means they're dead and you can toss out.
2. Heat a wok over high heat and oil and butter.
3. When mixture starts to bubble and foam, add ginger and lemongrass and stir for a minute until fragrant. Then add garlic, and stir for about 10-20 seconds until fragrant.
4. Add wine, oyster sauce, sugar, black pepper, and fish sauce and bring to boil.4. Add mussels to combine and steam (stir every once in a while) for a few minutes until mussels start to all open up. Then add scallions, cilantro, red chili pepper and quickly toss.
5. Transfer to serving bowl. Add some fresh coriander, black pepper, and serve.