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Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Giant Crab is also known as giant deepwater crab, giant Tasmanian crab, king crab and queen crab.

The Giant Tasmanian Crab is the largest of all Australian crabs and second only in size to the giant King Crab found off Japan. 

It has a white shell and claws are splashed with red.  These crabs are very good to eat.

It is reasonably plentiful between 90 and 150 metres depth in Bass Strait and off the eastern coast of Tasmania in the southern waters of Australia on the edge of the continental shelf.  It can weigh over 13kg and measure 36cm across the body and have arms with giant pincers around 46cm long.

It is a commercially fished species. The species has been commercially fished in Tasmanian waters since 1992. 

The Tasmanian giant crab has a white shell with claws that are splashed in red. The females' shells change colors when they are producing eggs. This crab breathes through gills.

Male and female crab identification

Cooking Champagne Crabs:

Buying
Regardless of the type of Crab, look for ones which feel heavy for their size and have their legs and claws intact. With dead Crabs, if possible, give them a gentle shake to ensure there’s no sound of sloshing water. Live Crabs should be vigorous. Females with eggs are always protected, and in Queensland catching any female Crabs is prohibited (except for Spanner Crabs without eggs).

Killing
The RSPCA has guidelines for the humane killing of all crustaceans. The most acceptable, and easiest, method is to chill them in the freezer for about 45 minutes until they become insensible (but not long enough to freeze them). Once chilled, they should be killed promptly by splitting them in half or dropping them into rapidly boiling water. See www.rspca.org.au for more details.

Storing
Keep live Crabs in a cool place with a damp cloth over the container, ensuring that the cloth remains damp. Cooked or dead Crabs should be wrapped in plastic wrap or foil and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen, at -18ºC or lower, for up to 3 months. Picked crabmeat can be stored in the same way.

Cooking
Crabs can be steamed, poached, deep-fried, stir-fried, pan-fried, grilled or barbecued. Don’t try to pick raw crabmeat, it’s almost impossible as the flesh is too watery.

If you need crabmeat, place chilled whole Crabs in a large pot of rapidly boiling water, that has been well salted (½ cup table salt to 2.5 litres water), for 8 minutes per 500g up to 1kg, or 5 minutes per 500g for larger specimens (timed from when the water returns to the boil). Refresh them in iced water then twist off legs and claws, crack and remove the meat with a Crab pick, skewer or crochet hook. Tip the body of the Crab over and, from underneath, lift off the top shell, most of the inedible organs will come away attached to the shell. Break off the eyes and the shell holding them in place. Lift out and discard the grey feathery gills (deadman’s fingers) from the body, use a small spoon to remove the internal organs, then wipe clean with a damp cloth. Some people like to keep the yellow ‘mustard’ (liver) to add a deeper flavour to the dish. Quarter the Crab and pick out all the meat from the body.

If stir-frying or marinating Crabs, it is easiest to work with uncooked (green) Blue Swimmers as they are already dead, clean as above without removing legs and claws, quarter the body and crack legs and claws with nut crackers so flavours can penetrate.

Cooking Tips: For live crabs allow 10 minutes per 500g to cook. Steam or boil in salted water.