Garlic Roasted Crab

I love most foods that are lathered in garlic and butter, but I especially love it when it happens to be Dungeness crab. Lucky for me, there are quite a few renowned restaurants in San Francisco that serve this. My top 2 favorites happen to be sister restaurants: Thanh Long and Crustacean. Their crabs are mouthwatering but they can be quite pricey. While I do enjoy eating there on nice occasions, there are times I just want to eat on a smaller budget, get my hands dirty, and eat crab in the comfort of my own home.

For the past year, I've made many batches of garlic roasted crab to fine tune my recipe. No matter how many times I've tried, it doesn't quite match up perfectly to the ones I've had at Thanh Long or Crustacean. However, it's still comparable and is delicious in its own right. Plus, when it's crab season (like now!), you can find previously frozen and cooked Dungeness crab on sale at your local markets (such as Whole Foods and Costco). I know, I know - fresh crab tastes better. Unfortunately, I just don't have the heart to slowly kill a crab in a boiling pot with my own hands.

In the meantime, I plan to keep making more and more until I get this just right! (Recipe to be updated overtime).

Garlic Roasted Crab

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 Dungeness Crab (~2 lbs) (pre-steamed or cooked)*

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter

• 4 cloves garlic (minced)

• 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder

• 1/4 tsp red chili powder

• 1/4 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp cracked black pepper

*Note: You can find previously frozen and cooked crabs from Whole Foods or Costco

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

• Clean crab by rinsing under cool water and pat dry. Cut into smaller pieces by detaching crab legs (pull apart or chop with a knife),

• In a large cast iron or pan, add unsalted butter on medium heat. Once melted, add garlic and sauté until fragrant but not browned. Add chicken bouillon powder, red chili powder, sugar and cracked black pepper. Evenly mix together.

• Add crab to the pan. Using a spoon, pour garlic butter sauce over crab pieces.

• Turn off stove and transfer cast iron to the oven. (If your pan is not oven-safe, transfer everything from the pan to a baking pan).

• Bake crab for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve hot.