Deviled Crab

Those of you who grew up here on the Gulf Coast surely remember the stuffed deviled crabs in the freezer at the grocery store. They were in real crab shells, filled with a sort of mildly spicy crab dressing, individually wrapped, and cost about 50 cents each. You may also remember made-from-scratch deviled crabs at seafood restaurants, typically served as part of a seafood platter. Those were fancier than the ones from the grocery, but they were all good. My Nana kept a stash of the grocery store deviled crabs in her freezer for lunch. A pat of Parkay margarine, a sprinkle of paprika, a run through the toaster oven, and lunch was ready! What a treat! I ate mine sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen counter while Nana watched As the World Turns.

As time went on you could still get those deviled crabs at the grocery store, except they had less and less crab, and finally what crab they had was replaced with imitation crab. In fact, many of the restaurants who continue to serve “deviled crab” use that now.

I’m not as horrified by surimi (the imitation crab, also known as “crab with a K”) as some people are. It’s just a seafood product made from fish using a Japanese method to form the fish into sticks. The stick size, texture, and color approximate the meat from snow crab legs or lobster, thanks to a little added sugar and starch. The surimi sold in the U.S. is typically made from wild-caught Alaskan pollock which is happily low in mercury. Our surimi may also include cod, tilapia, swordfish, bream, sea bass, and other familiar fish. The only issue I have with it is when it pretends to be crab. I’ve occasionally used surimi in seafood casseroles and seafood pasta salad, but I always call it “SEAFOOD”.

So anyway, it’s gotten really hard to find real, old-school Deviled Crab around here anymore. In my mind, a deviled crab must have actual crab in it, and the more crab, the better. If you miss real Gulf Coast Deviled Crab like I do, the recipe below will make you very happy. The photos you see are made with lump crabmeat because that’s what I had. You can absolutely use backfin or claw meat. I don’t use canned crab for this recipe. And while I’m careful about the cracker crumb-to-crabmeat ratio–not too much cracker!–I must insist on buttery Ritz crackers, or at least the Ritz knock-offs. Actually captain’s wafers or club crackers work, too. Crabmeat and the butter-flavored crunch play so beautifully together, let’s keep the love going!

And while most deviled crab recipes have you add raw minced onion, celery, and bell pepper directly to the mix, I firmly believe the few minutes spent sautéing the aromatics before incorporating them is well rewarded: the flavors are mellowed and melded, and the texture is better.

I like to cook Deviled Crab in individual portions because that gives me maximum crabby crunch per serving, which is my very favorite part. A lot of people use clean shells leftover from boiled crabs, but I prefer either individual ramekins or clean scallop shells. I use real scallop shells that I bought at a Redneck Riviera tourist trap, but you can find them on Amazon. I have also seen porcelain scallop shells at kitchen shops. (Pro tip: the real shells at the tacky souvenir store are cheaper, and go through the dishwasher like a champ. I’ve had mine for 15 years at least.) You can certainly bake the Deviled Crab recipe in a small casserole dish if you prefer, but you’ll need to bake it longer.

Finally, as you may have guessed, Deviled Crab freezes beautifully. You can freeze it unbaked in individual portions, wrapped well in plastic and stored in a freezer bag. You can also store the Deviled Crab mix in a freezer-safe container, then thaw and portion when ready to cook and serve. In that case, I’d add fresh buttered crumbs and paprika just before putting it in the oven.

Deviled Crab: even better than you remember!