European Shore Crab - Carcinus maenas, Any recipes?

[Humpback]

Just returned from a week on Loch Etive where I tried out my crab trap (Ronny Sunshines crayfish crab trap) with great success. Caught numerous Carcinus maenas but I have not eaten this species before. Has anyone here actually eaten this species? Is it edible? If it is how did you prepare it?
Alan

 

[sam_acw]

They are fished commercially so certainly edible. As with all less beautiful seafood; it's worth looking for French or Portuguese recipe ideas as you can be sure they'll eat it.

 

[JonathanD]

You can make a nice pate or sandwich filler with them, or paella etc....

 

[trixx]

Yes, they are edible. Although they are green, they turn a very pleasant red colour when boiled.

Here's a decent recipe from Rick Stein.

Rick Stein's Shore Crab Bisque

 

[Humpback]

Thanks for the recipe. It's a bit too complicated for my camp cooking skills to be honest, but it has given me ideas. To use them seems to be forget collecting the meat as with edible crab/lobster, more infuse soup with whole crab.
Alan

 

[trixx]

You can pick the meat out of them, but because they are considerably smaller than the brown edible crabs it's a labour-intensive operation. No reason not do do it, though.

Many of the recipes for smaller crabs like green shore crabs and velvet swimmers involve using them as the basis for stocks or soups. Commercially, they are often processed into crab pastes/pates.

 

[Nick93]

There is a recipe in the river cottage edible seashore book that uses them to make a shore crab bisque. Ive wanted to try this for a while now..

 

[Nick93]

Oops I didnt notice the rick stein link