"CrabMeat" news and stories

Happy National Crabmeat Day!

This sweet crustacean certainly puts up a fight before providing its trickily accessible succulent meat. Once spared of the efforts required for shelling your own fresh crab -- yes, a privilege in its own right, though hardly a desirable one for time-pressed home cooks -- pre-packaged lump crabmeat is a culinary godsend.

While the classic, breadcrumbed crabcake is the obvious favorite rendition (pictured here with a spring mix and edamame salad), take a look at some of our favorite crab recipes for your own inspiration:

• Daniel Boulud's Crabmeat Salad with Mango, Cucumber and Coriander
• Nigella Lawson's Linguine with Chile, Crab and Watercress
• South Carolina-style Crab Dip
• Springy Crab Tostadas
• A classic Crab Louis salad
• Mario Batali's Spaghetti with Crab, Saffron and Chiles

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This is the WiseCracker. From the description over at Chef'n, it sounds like the jaws of life for crustaceans. Aside from having a claw cracker and meat pick on the handle, the business end of the WiseCracker is slid into crab shells and expanded, thus splitting the shells open. At least, that's what they say. It's a far cry from a wooden mallet and a nutcracker. It might be worth a try; Amazon has them for about $15. Still, I think part of the appeal of eating crabs, at least blue crabs, is the mess.