One Pot Dungeness Crab Curry

One Pot Dungeness Crab Curry: A spicy, highly seasoned one pot meal that is anything but “butter and herbs”.

As an East coaster my only understanding of shellfish is Chesapeake Bay crab in summer. And to be honest, even then I have never cooked them myself whole. Can I make a crab salad from pre-picked crab? You bet. But if you handed me an entire sea beast, I’d be out of luck.

When I realized there were crabs one might obtain in winter (thanks Alaska Dungeness crab season!!!), I forced myself into the kitchen to experiment. Not only did we work with whole crab that needed to be gutted (lots of YouTube learning…), but we also worked to do something beyond the typical herbs and butter seen in winter seafood. Hence, a riff on Mangalore style curry.

I also wanted to take this seafood experimentation time to finally answer my own questions (and have an answer when YOU all asked me) about how to shop for sustainable seafood. Over the past few years I’ve heard conflicting information about farm vs wild vs local vs specific regions. It’s overwhelming.

Even if you don’t click over to my article for the recipe on Inspired Home, here are the highlights for the question of sustainability: When in doubt, choose Alaska.

It really is that simple. All seafood from Alaska is wild, sustainably caught and protected by the actual Alaska constitution. The state constitution regulates marine ecosystems to encourage replenishing. This has been so useful to me when I shop, I thought I would pass it along to you if you’re working to make more sustainable choices in 2020.

Click to get the recipe for this one pot dungeness crab curry