Cooking River Crabs

Ingredients

• 48 living crabs
• 2 l water
• 1 l white wine
• 10 crushed peppercorns
• 2 cloves of mace
• 1 herb bundle
• 2 Spring Onions
• 1 Carrot
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 Shallot
• 0.25 l crab stock
• 100 g Sour cream
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp chopped dill
• lemons (juice)
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the crabs thoroughly under running water. Bring water, wine and spices to a boil in a large pot. Peel and slice the carrot into rounds. Wash, trim and cut the spring onions into about 1 cm pieces. Slice the chili pepper into rings. Add the vegetables to the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Touch the crabs by their tails and add eight at a time to the stock. When the water boils again, add the next batch of crabs. Cook for 6 more minutes and let them cool slightly in the broth.

2. 2.

   Remove the tails from the carapace, crack open on the belly side, release the gut from the lower end of the tails. Break the claws with a lobster pick and extract the meat. Keep the crab meat warm, strain the stock and reduce it slightly.

3. 3.

   For the sauce peel and finely dice the shallot. Pour 0.25 l of crab stock through a sieve into a pot, add the shallot and reduce over high heat. Add crème fraîche. Remove from heat, fold in butter in small pieces, mix in dill and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix with the crab tails and serve on plates.