Catching crabs
November 8th 2006 18:29
What a catch!
You have just found a nice secure anchorage for the night. The barbecue fuel is catching alight and it will be twenty minutes before you put the shishkebabs on to cook. What to do now? Instead of taking the top off a stubby of VB why not put out the crab traps? At 5 for $20 they are cheap and each person "fishing" is allowed five traps.
In NSW we use witches hats. A round wire base with a conical net that has a foat on top and allows it to float point up like a witches hat. There is a string going across the base and to this is attached the bait. Any sort of fish scraps will do. As long as they can be tied or hooked to the cross string. The trap is also attached to a string of about ten to fifteen metres with an end tied to a float (usually a 2 litre milk bottle) Write your name and address on this (by law).
Drop your five or ten or fifteen baited traps wherever you think looks good. Depth obviously will be a governing factor. Also keep the traps about ten metres or more apart and don't put them in obvious boating channels where they will tangle props, particularly at night. Now back the boat and the barbeque.
Check your traps once before retireing and again when you wake up. Third time just before you leave the anchorage. what happens is the crab is attracted to the bait, along with other scavengers. It settles on the net and starts to feed. It's claws and body foul on the net and when you haul up the trap you can have up to three crabs in the net. Very carefully untangle the crabs and put in a keeper bucket. Retie any holes caused by the crabs, re bait if required and drop them back in.
When to crab? Any month with an R in it. September to April.
How to cook? Just dump them into vigorously boiling water and keep boiling for at least five minutes.
How to eat? Take off the the back. Clean the "dead man's finger" away. Furry looking fingers on each side of the body. There is a yellow or orange bit that is going to become eggs, this can be eaten but I chuck it. Split the body lengthways. The claw cracks to reveal the sweetest meat. the legs crack and give good meat and then the rest of the shell is carefully cleaned of shell revealing very nice whit meat. All the shell can be used as burley to attract fish to be used in the next lot of trapping.
One wok chilli crab: Seven hot chillis, five cloves of garlic, onion, salt and pepper, a cup of any other finely sliced veges suitable for the wok. A couple of packets of 2 minute noodles cooked and cooled. Chop the chilli, garlic and onions. Break the crabs up into serving sizes and tap the claws and legs with the back of a spoon to crack them. This allows the cooking juices in. Pre cooked crab is quick, green or uncooked crab needs to be cooked longer. Some chicken stock if you have it or plain water and light soy sauce.
Oil your wok and bring to the smoke. Into the wok go the chillis, garlic and onion. Stir briskly and try not to cough into the wok. Add the crab and as it starts to cook the rest of the vegetables. As the veges and crab are cooked add a little stock or water and some light soy sauce to make a covering sauce. Put on to a plate or platter. More oil into the wok and as it smokes add the soft noodles. I like to add some soy sauce and just before they come off the heat a few drops of sesame oil. The noodles I put back into the shell of the crab which can be used as a rice/noodle bowl or it can go onto the platter as decoration.
Now isn't that a great result from a few minutes of crabbing?
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