Andaricas a la Plancha

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast-iron or carbon-steel plancha, at least 45 x 30cm, or two 28cm heavy skillets
• •Stiff seafood brush
• •Long sturdy tongs
• •Thin-probe instant-read thermometer
• •Crab crackers and seafood picks
• •Large tray for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the crabs

   Buy lively andaricas with intact shells and a clean smell of the sea, then ask the fishmonger to dispatch them immediately before you take them home. Cook them within two hours and keep them properly chilled meanwhile. A raw crab found dead in the tank is not a bargain. Leave it there.

   If you bring the crabs home alive, chill them until insensible and use the recognized two-point spiking method before cooking. If you haven't done that before, let the fishmonger handle it. Don't put a live crab directly onto hot metal.
2. 2

   Clean and dry

   Rinse each crab briefly under cold running water, brushing any grit from the underside, leg joints and claws. Don't soak them. Dry them one by one with a clean cloth or kitchen paper until the shells and legs are completely dry. Wet andaricas cool the iron and boil in their rinse water instead of searing.

3. 3

   Heat the plancha

   Set a large cast-iron or carbon-steel plancha over high heat for 8 minutes, until its surface reaches 220-230°C and a drop of water skitters away at once. Rub the crabs all over with the 30ml olive oil. Scatter 15g coarse salt evenly across the hot iron.

4. 4

   Cook shell-side down

   Lay the crabs on the salt with the carapace against the plancha and the legs pointing upward. Leave a little room between them and cook without pressing or shifting for 5 minutes. This is the step that decides the dish: the top shell acts like a little cup, holding the sweet crab liquor while the heat works through it.

5. 5

   Turn and finish

   Turn every crab once and cook underside-down for 4 minutes. The shell should be brick-red, the legs firm and the juices bubbling at the joints. For certainty, slide a thin instant-read probe through a rear leg joint into the body meat; it must reach 63°C. Crabs nearer 140g may need 1 minute more. Return them to a tray carapace-down, scatter over the remaining 3g salt and rest for 2 minutes.

6. 6

   Open at the table

   Serve the andaricas immediately, still carapace-down so their liquor stays inside. Pull away the abdominal flap and lift off the top shell over the plate. Discard the feathery grey gills and the small stomach sac behind the eyes, then eat the white body and claw meat with the brown meat and any orange coral. No sauce is needed. The crab has already made one.

Chef Tips

• •Freshness comes before every trick here. Buy active crabs during the legal open season from a fishmonger with good turnover, and cook them the same day. Andaricas are generally fullest in the cool-water months, but local closures decide what should be on the counter.
• •Far from Asturias, small hard-shell blue crabs are the nearest useful substitute. Match the weight of each crab, not merely the number. Their meat is sweeter and a little less mineral, but the cooking time remains the same at 100-140g.
• •Use cast iron or carbon steel. A domestic non-stick pan isn't made for the 220-230°C heat this dish needs. If your plancha cannot hold every crab without crowding, use two heavy pans or serve them in two fresh rounds.
• •Garlic, parsley, wine and pimentón all cover the delicate shell liquor. They belong to other crab preparations. Here the finish is only coarse salt and the oil already clinging to the shell.
• •Pour natural Asturian sidra if you can find it. Its dry acidity clears the richness of the brown meat without masking the sweetness. A crisp, dry Galician or Basque Atlantic white wine also sits well beside the crab.
• •Set out a bowl for shells, crab picks and more napkins than seems reasonable. Small andaricas are meant to be worked over slowly at the table. That is supper, not a delay before it.

Advance Preparation

• •Buy the andaricas on the day you will cook them. If they remain live for a few hours, keep them in a ventilated tray in the coldest part of the refrigerator under a lightly damp cloth. Never seal them in an airtight box or immerse them in fresh water.
• •Crabs dispatched by the fishmonger can be brushed, rinsed and dried up to 30 minutes ahead. Keep them on a rack over a tray in the refrigerator, then oil and salt them only when the plancha is hot.
• •This dish should not be cooked ahead. If any crab remains, pick out the meat within two hours, refrigerate it in a covered container and eat it within 24 hours. Don't put a cooked crab back on the plancha; it dries before it warms through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 355g)