Stone Crab Claws

Know this

This is the only seafood in the case where the animal goes back in the water alive. Florida law permits harvesting the claw only, and the crab regrows it. The claws are cooked on the boat within minutes, because raw stone crab meat welds itself to the shell and becomes impossible to pick. Chef secret: every claw you have ever bought was already cooked before it was frozen.

Cook

Do not cook it again. Serve cold, cracked, with mustard sauce. Reheating a stone crab claw turns the best crab meat in America into rubber.

Season

October 15 to May 1. That is the law, not a preference.

Best pairings

Mustard sauce · Lemon · Butter · Celery · Tarragon · Chive

Also worth trying: mayonnaise, dill, hot sauce, cucumber, avocado, parsley, shallot.

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