alaskan crabs

[attgig]

Why is it that people don't eat the body meat of Alaskan king crabs and snow crabs?

[uncledaddy]

There isn't much meat there, and what meat is there is discolored by the internals. I believe in most cases, processors of crab will take those parts and use them for other crab products.

I've never even seen the crab available any other way other than leg clusters, has anyone else? Maybe in the fishing towns.

[attgig]

exactly. I haven't seen them available as whole. But the few times I did buy the legs, there's some meat right at the joint that I'll still eat, even though it's incredibly salty because of the way they pre-cut/pre-cooked them. I'd figure it'd be pretty meaty/tasty (though not as much as the leg) if they left it there.

[uncledaddy]

That is good meat there, and you're right, it depends on how it is prepared whether it is salty or not. There is a restaurant in Oceanside/Vista, Ca. area that preps the snow crab with no salt and served with melted butter, and it's all you can eat on the weekends.

When I prep at home, I cook the legs, king or snow crab, in coconut milk. It is awesome.