Reheating Cooked Shellfish

Hey Jude's Note:

I'm posting this for myself but also to share with others who, like me, might have been intimidated by the lovely looking bags or packages of frozen crabs and lobsters. I found such a bag today, of king crab legs, that I couldn't resist buying because of the low sale price. Luckily for me, this was at my favorite fishmonger shop, Burhop's, in Glenview, IL, and they gave me a recipe card with super simple instructions for the best ways to reheat the frozen crabby delights. I followed the instructions for steaming and our crab legs were absolutely perfect! The amounts listed below in 'ingredients' are per person and I'll list the details in the directions area. The prep and cook times don't include the thawing time because that's subject to what sort of shell fish you're preparing.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 1

• ¾-1 lb king crab legs (whole or split) or ¾-1 lb maine lobsters or ¾-1 lb dungeness crabs or ¾-1 lb snow crab
• water (for steaming)

Directions:

1. Thaw seafood, rinse and pat dry on paper towels.
2. To Steam: place one inch of water in a large pot, bring to a boil. Place shellfish in a steaming rack or colander and lower into boiling water - if the bottom of the rack goes below the level of the water, empty out some of the water as you don't want your shellfish to be sitting in water. You may have to break crab legs to fit into the pot. Cover pot and cook as follows:.
3. Snow crab legs or claws - 5 minutes.
4. King Crab legs (whole or split) - 8 minutes.
5. Maine lobster or Dungeness crab - 10 minutes.
6. In Oven: preheat oven to 400°. Wrap clean, thawed shellfish in foil, forming a tent. Place in oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remember, you are only reheating, not cooking your frozen, thawed shellfish.
8. Serve with melted herb, or garlic, or plain butter.

Reviews

[MA in Florida]

Hey Jude, thank you so much for posting these great tips for cooked seafood. This takes the mystery out of what to do with store-bought cooked shellfish and also with leftover home-cooked ones. This goes right into the "tips and techniques" cookbook. Thanks for sharing!

[PrimQuilter]

For someone living in the middle of corn country, this recipe is much appreicated ! The perfect guide for those of us who look at the shellfish in the market and wonder how on earth does one cook that ? I have a Nesco crock pot that has a rack and steam setting, perfect for this recipe. Plus, I can plug it in outside as to not 'stink up' the house for days. Hey Jude, thanks for posting this here !

[Jaymee]

That is a great guide. We have had good success steaming crab legs frozen. 10 minutes for snow crab and about 12 minutes for king. My FAVORITE method of reheating snow crab, though, is in a "seafood boil". (You can find numerous recipes for this.) If you have never done one, it consists of crab legs, shrimp, and any other shellfish you choose, smoked sausage, onion, potato, and corn cooked outside in a BIG old pot in water and a couple of bags of "seafood boil" spices (Old Bay or Zatarain's brand) Must be eaten on brown paper or newspaper. Must have your best friends over to help you eat it. Start stocking your freezer when things go on sale and you will have a fantastic summer party!!!