I buy spider crabs straight off the boat of my fishmonger friend, Jack, in West Bay harbour. They are ridiculously cheap. I predict that in the coming years spider crabs will become more and more commonplace in British fishmonger’s and restaurants. A large spider crab has plenty of good white meat in the legs and claws and, if anything, the flavour is better, and sweeter, than the more familiar brown crab.
Linguine, which is like a rather thick, slightly flat spaghetti, is one of my favourite pastas, but you can use anything you like.
Serves 5–6
Ingredients:
2 large live spider crabs or brown crabs (about 500g white crab meat in total)
500g linguine or other favourite pasta
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1–2 small red chillies (according to heat)
deseeded and finely sliced
1kg best ripe tomatoes, such as Sungold, skinned, deseeded and roughly chopped
chopped chives
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Humanely kill and cook your crabs as described below. Crack open the claws and legs to retrieve all the white meat. (Collect the brown meat too, and reserve it for another dish, such as fish soup, or for crab sandwiches.)
Bring a large pan of lightly salted water (at least 3 litres) to the boil, add the linguine and cook, uncovered, for about 10–12 minutes, until al dente. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: sweat the garlic in the olive oil until softened, then throw in the red chilli (check for heat and use sparingly). Add the chopped tomatoes before the garlic takes colour. Simmer for 5–6 minutes, until soft and pulpy, then add the white crab meat and heat through. Season to taste, adding more chilli if you like. Add some chives at the last moment. Serve tossed with the drained linguine.
To kill and cook crabs: there is an officially sanctioned technique for humanely killing crabs: a sharp spike or small screwdriver is pushed through the mouth, between the eyes, and into the head at the top of the carapace. A second point, which should also be spiked, is the ventral nervous centre. Lifting the tail flap of the crab reveals a cone-shaped patch – the spike should be driven into the centre of this. It is also, in my view, quite humane to immerse a crab quickly in a large pan of rapidly boiling water, which will kill it almost instantly. The main reason this is not the commercial practice is because the crab will tend to shed its legs and claws. This may make them harder for a fishmonger to sell, but for those that are going to be eaten at home it really doesn’t matter.
Crabs should be cooked by plunging them into a large pan of rapidly boiling sea water (alternatively, add 30g salt to every litre of fresh water). After the water comes back to the boil, allow 12–15 minutes for crabs weighing up to about 1kg; for larger crabs, add 4 or 5 minutes per extra 500g.