Serves: 5

TYPES

Varieties of crab differ by region. Dungeness crab is from the Pacific coast, king crab and snow crab are found in the North Pacific, blue crab comes from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and stone crab from Florida. Soft-shell crabs are not a different variety but are blue crabs that have shed their hard shells and can be eaten without removing the meat from the shell.

Alaska king crab is usually sold as frozen, cooked crab legs. Cooked crabmeat (out of the shell) is available frozen or canned, and occasionally fresh. Lump meat, the most costly, is choice meat from the body of the crab. Flaked meat consists of small pieces from the body. Claw meat is darker than the meat from the body.

SHOPPING FOR QUALITY

Fresh, uncooked crabs should be sold alive, displayed in a tank of salt water. They should look active, not sluggish. Cooked whole crabs, available fresh and frozen, should have bright red shells and a mild aroma.

HOW MUCH TO BUY

Allow 1/3 to 1/2 pound per serving. Four pounds of crab in the shell yields 1 pound of cooked crabmeat. One 6-ounce package of frozen crabmeat or one 6 1/2-ounce can of cooked flaked crabmeat is equivalent to 1 cup of cooked lump crabmeat.

More Recipes from the Cook'n with Pillsbury Cookbook:
Baked Stuffed Fish
Baked Whole Fish
Batter-Fried Fish
Batter-Fried Shrimp or Scallops
Boiled Crab
Boiled Lobster
Boiled Shrimp
Broiled Fish Fillets
Broiled Lobster Tails
Broiled Snapper with Cilantro Sauce
Cajun-Spiced Grouper Sandwiches
Catfish Cakes
Clam Sauce with Linguine
Clarified Butter
Cook's Note: Buying Canned Salmon
Cook's Note: Buying Canned Tuna
Cook's Note: Cooking Scallops
Cook's Note: Cooking Shrimp
Cook's Note: Crab
Cook's Note: Fish Steaks vs. Fish Fillets
Cook's Note: Fish and Shellfish Nutrition
Cook's Note: Fish in the Microwave
Cook's Note: Grilling Fish
Cook's Note: Grilling Shrimp and Scallops
Cook's Note: How Much to Buy
Cook's Note: How to Carve a Whole Fish
Cook's Note: How to Eat Hard-Shell Crab
Cook's Note: How to Eat Lobster
Cook's Note: How to Peel and Devein Shrimp
Cook's Note: Scallops
Cook's Note: Shopping for Quality
Cook's Note: Shrimp
Coquilles St. Jacques
Crabmeat and Avocado Wraps
Creamed Tuna on Toast
Creamy Parsley Sauce
Crescent Tuna Melt
Delaware Crab Cakes
Dill-Marinated Salmon Steaks
Fettuccine with Pesto Cream and Salmon
Fish Creole
Fish Fillets with California Salsa
Fish Varieties
Flounder en Papillote
Fresh Tuna with Gremolata
Fried Oysters
Grilled Salmon with Herbed Tartar Sauce
Grilled Walleye with Pecan Butter
Grilled Whitefish with Dill Tartar Sauce
How Much to Buy
Italian Barbecued Swordfish Steaks with Tomato Relish
Kung Pao Shrimp
Lemon-Poached Salmon
Linguine with Seafood Sauce
Lobster Newburg
Lobster Thermidor
Maryland Deviled Crab
Mediterranean Shrimp and Bow Ties
Mussels in Wine Sauce
Orange Roughy with Dill Butter
Oven-Fried Fish
Panfried Fish
Panfried Trout with Caper Sauce
Poached Fish
Salmon Burgers with Lemon-Dill Sauce
Salmon Loaf
Salmon a la King
Savory Marinated Fish
Scalloped Oysters
Shellfish Cooking Methods
Shrimp Creole
Shrimp Scampi
Steamed Clams
Tarragon Grilled Fish and Vegetables
Tartar Sauce
Tuna Casserole
Tuna Salad Buns
Veracruz-Style Red Snapper
Zesty Seafood Cocktail Sauce