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Seafood - Shellfish

Lobster

Lobster can be purchased alive, or cooked in the shell (fresh or frozen), or canned. The color of the shell varies from deep blue to shades of green and turns bright red when cooked. Lobster should be alive at moment of cooking. To test, straighten tail out and if it springs back into a curled postion, it was alive and healthy when cooked. Fresh lobster or frozen lobster purchased in shell will yield about 1/5 their weight in edible lobster meat. Lobsters like crabs, shed their shells and grow new ones. The new shells are quite soft at first and when a lobster is caught at this stage (in the summer) it is called a soft-shell or new-shell. Soft-shells do not contain as much meat as do hard-shells and they also contain alot of water. Generally speaking the harder the shell the more meat it contains. All parts of the lobster except for the head sac and the gills are edible. The milky white substance is congealed blood, the creamy grean is liver (also called tomalley which can be used as a spread on toast), and if you bought a female lobster the solid red is roe or coral. To Store: NOT in water because they will die. Best stored in the refridgerator, preferably on a bed of moist seaweed or newspaper.
To Clean: Not necessary to clean if cooked whole. Cut lobster in half lenght wise and pull the head sac out and remove the intestine.
To Boil: Fill a deep container with enough water to cover lobsters. Bring to a boil and add 3 tbsp (40ml) salt per 4 cups (944ml) water. Grasp each lobster behind the head, plunge it in, head first. Cover container and return water to a boil. Lobster is cooked roughly 10 minuters per pound. Cook small lobsters (¾ to 1 ¾ lb - 350 to 700 g) for 13 minutes, medium lobsters ( cook for 15 minutes and large lobsters for 18 minutes.

Crab

The most common species of crab eaten are Blue Crab, King Crab, Snow Crab, Dungeness Crab, and Stone Crab. All crabs mentioned have white meat that is delicious when hot or cold. Crab like lobster must be sold live or cooked. Most crabs are sold cooked.
To Cook, Store, Clean: Because most crabs are sold cooked please check with a cook book specializing in seafood on how to cook crabs.
To Store Cooked Crab: Store in the refridgerator or freezer.

Crayfish

Crayfish also called crawfish are essentially fresh water shrimp that look like miniature lobsters. They can even pinch you like lobsters do. Crayfish is best bought, stored, and cooked live. The only meat is in the tail. To Buy: Buy either live or frozen. Do not buy dead crayfish. If frozen they should be whole and individual.
To Store: Store live crayfish in the refridgerator covered with a damp towel or paper towel.
To Boil: Bring water to a boil then add crayfish. They are done cooking 5 minutes after the water returns to a boil, or when red.

Clams

There are many different species of clams but they fall into two categories: soft-shell, and hard-shell. Soft-shell: Soft-shell clams have shells that are easily broken. Because they live with their shells partially open all the time and because they can not close their shells once taken from the water (their neck or foot protrudes), they are usually so sandy that the meat itself must be purged of sand before eating. This can be accomplished by soaking in salted water for 2 hours or more, by repeated rinsing in fresh water, or by dunking the meat itself in clam broth (the water it was cooked in) after cooking. Although they are easy to shuck, the are never eaten raw. The small ones are usually steamed or deep-fried and the larger ones are usually chopped up and added to soups and chowders. Some species are steamer, gaper, mud clam, geoduck, razor clam, jackknife clam.
To Buy: Soft-shell clams must be alive or cooked when you buy them.
To Store: Never in a sealed plastic bag because they will suffocate. Store in the refridgerator covered with a damp towel. They will stay alive for days at 40°F.
To Clean: The best way if you have the time, is to soak them in heavily water (one part salt to ten parts water), refridgerate for several hours or overnight. If you are in a rush or the clams aren't to sandy, just rinse them in several changes of fresh water until no sand falls to the bottom of the bowl.
To Shuck: Hold the clam with the hinge part of the shell down then firmly in a folded kitchen towel insert the point of a knife into the hinge between the shells and turn the knife to pry open and lift the upper shell enough to cut through the hinge muscle. Run the knife point between the shells to open.
Best cooking methods: Steaming, deep-frying, in soups and chowders.
When is it done?: If steamed, when the shell pops open which is usually 3 to 5 minutes after the steaming liquid boils. If fried, as soon as the crust is brown. In soups and chowders, 3 to 5 minutes if whole and almost instantly if cut up.

Shrimp

To Buy: Raw shrimp are green and cooked shrimp are pink. Shrimp must have a clean sea odor to them. If they smell like ammonia don't buy.
To Store: Store fresh shrimp in a sealed plastic bag or a container with a lid. Use within 1 to 2 days.
To Cook:
4 cups water
1 lb shrimp

Heat water to boiling in a 3 liter (3 quart) saucepan. Add shrimp.
Cover and bring back to a boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered 3 to 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm.
Drain.
Peel shrimp and make a shallow cut lengthwise down the back of each shrimp and wash out the vein.
1 serving is ¼ pound cooked headless, peeled and deveined.

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