Stone Crab Claws with Mustard Dipping Sauce
Stone crab claws are sold already cooked, so the work here is cracking them and stirring together a cold, tangy mustard sauce. Florida's recreational and commercial stone crab season runs October 15 through May 1 — check FWC for current rules. Scale the people count in the app to 2, 4, 6, or 8 — ingredients adjust from this base of 4 servings.
Open interactive cooker (change people count)
Food safety
Buy claws only from a licensed seafood dealer, keep them at 40°F or below, and discard any with an off or ammonia smell. Claws are already cooked; if you warm them, heat until the meat reaches 145°F. The cream-and-mayonnaise sauce must stay refrigerated, and claws and sauce should not sit out more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F).
Allergens: shellfish, egg, milk, fish
Equipment
- small mixing bowl
- whisk
- wooden mallet or back of a heavy spoon
- clean kitchen towel
- serving platter
- steamer basket and pot (optional, for warming)
Ingredients (for 4 servings)
- 3 pounds cooked stone crab claws (medium), kept cold
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 lemons (1 juiced for the sauce, 1 cut into wedges)
Directions
1. Scrub the lemons under running water. Juice 1 lemon and cut the other into wedges.
2. Whisk the mayonnaise, dry mustard, Dijon mustard, heavy cream, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice until smooth.
3. Cover the sauce and refrigerate at least 30 minutes so the flavors blend and it stays well chilled. Keep the claws refrigerated at 40°F or below the whole time.
4. Wrap one claw at a time in a kitchen towel and tap it firmly with a mallet or the back of a heavy spoon on each section of shell until it cracks. Do not smash it.
5. Peel away the cracked shell pieces, leaving the meat attached to the movable pincer as a handle.
6. To serve chilled, arrange the claws on a platter over ice. To serve warm, steam them in a covered basket over simmering water 3 to 5 minutes until the meat is heated through to 145°F — do not boil, or the meat turns tough.
7. Serve with the cold mustard sauce and lemon wedges.
8. Return claws and sauce to the refrigerator within 2 hours (1 hour if the room is above 90°F).
Skill taught
Cracking cooked crab claws cleanly so the meat comes out in one piece.
Affordable substitution
Use frozen cooked snow crab or king crab legs thawed in the refrigerator overnight; they crack and dip the same way.
Optional variation
Serve with melted butter and lemon instead of mustard sauce, or offer both.
Leftovers & storage
Refrigerate claws and sauce within 2 hours (within 1 hour if above 90°F). Store at 40°F or below and eat within 2 days, cold. If reheating, warm the crab to 165°F until steaming hot.
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