Chef Ed's Dirty Crab
Yup...you read that right.
Everybody knows that I love cooking "dirty" when I cook outside.
What is dirty style? Well, it just means that you cook directly in the embers, rather than using any kind of grill/grate.
This is a super primitive form of cooking that gets the food as close to the heat source as is possible. It gives the most wonderful sear and imparts a flavour like no other.
When doing this you've got to make sure that you're burning good quality lumpwood charcoal or wood. This will not work with petrol forecourt briquettes 😬.
You need to see your fuel as an ingredient in its own right.
My mate Chef Ed, an actual chef (and a bloody good one at that!) Has a small boat and a couple of lobster pots. He had an amazing idea to cook a WHOLE crab dirty. It did NOT disappoint!
What you get is a crab which is steamed to perfection in its own shell, yet takes on a wonderful smokey flavour from the embers.
Ingredients
A whole edible crab
Method
1 - Dispatch the live crab humanely.
2 - Light your fire using good quality wood or charcoal and let it die down to embers.
3 - When the fire is ready place the crab directly on the embers and cook for 6 minutes.
4 - After 6 minutes flip the crab and cook for another 6 minutes.
5 - When cooked, place on a board leave for 20 mins to cool.