Delicious Australia – (12)December 2018

Searchdelicious.com.au for ‘blue swimmer

crab pasta with broad beans and corn’

ILLUSTRATION

ALICE CLEARY

BUYINGWhen buying blue

swimmer, make sure all the legs are

intact and firmly attached, and that

the aroma is fresh and of the sea.

They are not sold live because their

highfatcontentandextremely

sensitive nervous system make the

flesh mushy if they die slowly.

STORINGIf buying fresh, use

immediately after purchase – do not

freeze them.

COOKINGBarbecued whole; flesh

picked for stir-fries, pasta, salads,

soupsandbroths;pot-roasted.

CATCHING METHODCaught in

potsandasabi-catchofprawntrawls.

SUBSTITUTIONS Spanner crab

and mud crab.

ACCOMPANIMENTSChilli, basil,

mint, caramelised garlic, pickled

papaya, pepper, egg.

Cooking
swimme
Keep it s
says Joh

BLUE SWIMMER CRAB

HARD ON THE OUTSIDE,

softand sweet on the
inside. Anyway, enough
about me. Blue swimmer
crabs – sometimes called
sand crabs – have the
sweetestfleshofanyvariety.These
peculiar-looking crustaceans are a rich,
bright blue when alive and brilliant,
shimmering orange when cooked.
Growingtoamaximumof1kg,they
have extremely long, thin pincers to
pryopenscallopsandsniptheheads
offprawns,aswellasauniquepairof
back legs that behave like paddles.
Theyare the most common crab in
Australian waters, and as John Susman, of
Seafood consultancy Fishtales, suggests,
theyarethebesteatingcrabDownUnder.
“Theblueswimmercrabhasbyfarand
awaythemostuniqueflavourandtexture,”
hesays.“Sweet,cleanyetrich,ithasa
punchy iodine character, which reflects
theirpreferenceforseagrassbedswhere
they feast on scallops, prawns, small fish
andmolluscs.”
Thefishingcommunitiesbehindblue
swimmerssetitapart,too.“Thetwomost
famous blue crab fishermen, Peter Jecks
(‘Jecksy’)inSharkBayandDennisHolder,
who fishes the Gulf St Vincent and Spencer
Gulf, are both new-age environmentalists,”
says Susman, citing, among several other
initiatives, their lobbying of their state

Uniqueinflavourandtexture,thisbrightlycolouredcrustacean

leaves its relatives green with envy, writesAnthony Huckstep.

governmentstoreducecatchesand their

ethicalharvesting practices.

Although you’ll see punters bringing a

bucket of water to the markets to purchase

live mud crabs, the blue swimmer, because

itrarelyliveslongoutofwater,isoneofthe

fewcrabspeciesnotsoldlive,but instead

‘green’ (raw) or pre-cooked.

“Asageneralrule,ifyouaregoingto

usethemforacolddish,buyacooked

crab,” says Susman. (Fishermen cook them

in seawater from live at the source. As a

result, the flesh remains firm and moist.)

“Ifyouaregoingtousethemforahotdish,

say Singapore chilli crab, use raw crabs.”

Perfect on the barbecue whole, picked

for pastas, salads and soups, and able to

take on big, sharp and even spicy flavour

combos,theblueswimmerisoneofour

most versatile species. Susman, however,

believes it’s best kept simple: “Probably

thebestblueswimmercrabI’veeverhad

was hanging with Jecksy at the Carnarvon

YachtClub,amountainofjust-cooked

crabsonthetablewithbreadandbutter

andmaltvinegarathand.Oh,andabottle

of Margaret River sem sav on ice.”

delicious.com.au/food-files

For more tips on buying and

storing fresh seafood.

@huckstergram @anthuckstep

CATCH

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