Chef Jason Huguet, Chef/Owner of Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant

Steamboat Stuffed Crabs

Steamboat Stuffed Crabs

• 2 sticks of real butter
• 2 lbs of fresh backfin crabmeat
• 1 med. onion finely diced
• 1 rib of celery finely diced
• 2 T minced garlic
• Unseasoned bread crumbs (as needed)
• Salt & Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
• 3 oz. Crab Backs for stuffing

For Batter:

• 4 whole eggs (beaten)
• 2 C Buttermilk
• 1 ½ C Whole Milk
• 1 T All-purpose seasoning
• 4 C Seasoned Corn Flour

Method:
Melt butter in a medium magnalite pot, when the butte is hot, add onion, garlic & celery. Saute’ for about 5 minutes or until wilted on medium-high heat. Pick through the crabmeat Gently to make sure no shells are present. After going through the crabmeat & the vegetables are ready, add the crabmeat and very gently fold the contents together. Add salt & cayenne pepper to taste, and bread crumbs as needed and again gently fold everything together. Bread crumbs are added “as needed” because you can make it as moist or as dry as you would like. Be careful not to add too much as the bread crumbs will overpower or take away from the crab flavor.
Allow the mixture to cool on a small sheet pan. When the mixture has completely cooled down, take the crab backs and stuff each one until all the stuffing is used. Take each crab, dredge in the seasoned corn flour, then place in the egg/milk batter, then back into the corn flour. Make sure the crab is well coated in the corn flour. Drop each crab into 330 degree vegetable or peanut oil and fry until crispy golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with tartar or cocktail sauce as an accompaniment.