Two tricks to cooking succulent crustaceans

May 7th, 2012

In Australia we seem to have the knack for cooking meat fairly down pat. Of course, we’ve grilled enough prawns to know a thing or two about that, too.

But when it comes to boiling seafood, some of us revert to the old British culinary crime of overcooking.

Over-boiling delicate crustaceans leads to rubbery, flavourless flesh; a tragedy that is easy to avoid.

At the Sydney Seafood School (SSS) we’re told that a crustacean’s delicate flesh means it cooks quickly, and the less time it spends in contact with heat the better.

That’s trick one: don’t overcook or over-boil crustaceans.

Here’s a cooking guide from the SSS:

Bring a large saucepan of water to a rapid boil and add half a cup (150 grams) of salt for each 2.5 litres of water. Place crustaceans into the boiling water, cover and start timing.

mud crabs and rock lobsters for 1 minute per 100 grams

blue swimmer crabs, marron and bugs for 1 minute per 50 grams

prawns, yabbies, redclaw and scampi for 1 minute per 25 grams of average body weight

And here’s trick two: once the crustacean has been removed from the boiling water, do not drop it in iced water.

Large crustaceans should be cooked individually so that the water can return to the boil fast.

Oh the humanity!

The SSS says that before boiling any live crustacean, “it’s essential to chill it in the freezer for 30-60 minutes until it becomes completely insensible.”

And for two very good reasons:

“It’s neither humane nor good cooking practice to put an animal that hasn’t first been well chilled into boiling water, as the stress renders the meat tough.”

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.