Healthy Food Database

Spanner Crab

Spanner crabs have flat "spanner"-shaped claws. They have bright orange to brick-red shells and a spiky, elongated back shell. The darker red crabs are considered the best. Spanner crab meat is coarser in texture than other species and known for its sweet flavour.
Also known as frog crab or red frog crab.

Note about amines: Fresh seafood has low amine levels, but when older than two days the amine content rises to moderate, and any fish that has been frozen has high levels.

Category: Seafood - Mollusc

In Season: all year

To Buy:

Available live or cooked. They are a low to medium-priced crab. Look for brightly coloured lustrous shells, free of damage with a pleasant fresh sea smell. They should feel heavy for their size.

To Store:

Use crustaceans as soon as possible after purchase. Cooked crabs should be covered and refrigerated. Live crabs should be covered with damp butchers paper and stored in a cool, dark place.

Tips & Tricks:

If you are cooking with crab you must always use an uncooked crab. (Crab meat can never be cooked twice.) The new RSPCA guidelines on how to kill live crabs state that they should be chilled in a refrigerator or freezer for a couple of hours and then killed by splitting or spiking to destroy the nerve centres. At least at your hand, you know it's died painlessly. From a culinary point of view it will taste better too.

Cooking Tips:

For live crabs allow 10 minutes per 500g to cook. Steam or boil in salted water.

Find recipes with Spanner Crab

Nutrition per 1 Cup:

Energy (kJ):

317.5

Protein (g):

15.75

Saturated Fat, g :

0.13

Vitamin B6:

Selenium:

Phosphorus:

Amines:

Low

Glutamates:

n/a

Carbohydrates, g:

1.5

Fat (g):

0.75

Monosaturated Fat , g:

0.13

Folic Acid:

Magnesium:

Sodium:

Salicylates:

Safe/negligible amount

Benefits the Following Health Conditions:*