How to Boil Shrimp & Snow Crab
- 1). Understand that snow crab is cooked immediately after unloading from the fishing boats that catch it; afterward, it is quickly frozen so what you buy and prepare actually already is cooked, meaning all you have to do is reheat the crab legs.
- 2). Bring two large stockpots to strong, rolling boils on the stovetop. Add three tablespoons of salt to each pot. Drop 1 pound of snow crab legs into one stock pot and 1 pound of peeled, deveined shrimp into the other. Cover the pots and let the seafood simmer.
- 3). Boil frozen snow crab legs for 8 to 9 minutes; boil thawed snow crab legs for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the snow crab legs from the pot with a pair of tongs and let them drain for 1 minute on a cutting board. Boil jumbo shrimp for 7 to 8 minutes; boil large shrimp for 5 to 7 minutes and boil medium shrimp for 3 to 4 minutes.
- 4). Remove shrimp from boiling water with tongs and drain them in a colander. Serve immediately. Alternatively, if you are not going to serve shrimp hot or right away, plunge them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process and protect them from becoming tough. Drain shrimp and place in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.
