Cangrejo (River Crab) Potato Chowder Recipe

Cangrejo — river crab — are a specialty of Guayaquil, Ecuador. You buy them live, in bundles. At the peak of season they are $1 USD apiece.

Cangrejo parties are a common feast, where the crab are cleaned, killed, and boiled with seasonings to be pounded apart at the table.

The prized portions of cangrejo are the guts, the claws, and the large legs. There is meat inside the abdomens (the equivalent of “lump meat” in an ocean crab) and inside the spindly legs, but I don’t consider them worth the effort to open and eat. I just gather those bits (without the carapaces) and take them home for stock.

If you don’t want the pictorial guide, feel free to skip ahead to the complete recipes.

To begin your stock, remove the feathery gills and the beaklike appendage from the abdomens and cut them down the center. If they are very large, cut the halves in half again to expose more meat.

Add to a heavy pot with the spindly legs.

I like to rinse and drain the crab in the pot at this point, but I’m not sure if that’s strictly necessary or even helpful.

Cover with 2 – 3 quarts of water — whatever it takes to just cover the pieces. Bring to a rolling boil, skimming and discarding any foam that rises. Reduce heat to a fast simmer.

Add your vegetables and seasonings (the full recipe is after this image gallery.)

Give everything a good stir and cook at a rapid simmer for an hour.

Taste the stock after the hour. If it’s weak, cook it longer (up to 20 minutes more).

Strain your stock, first through a fine colander, then through a fine-mesh sieve.

There you go, your stock is done. Now it’s time to start your soup.

Clean and dry the pot and add 2 Tbsp of canola oil. Heat over a medium-high flame, and add the diced onion and celery. Cook for two minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the diced potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, for another five minutes,

Add 8 cups of your fresh crab stock and the dried parsley and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for ten minutes, until the potatoes start to get tender.

Whisk the flour into the milk and add to the pot, stirring as you pour. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Turn off flame and transfer half of the soup to a blender. To prevent splashing, don’t fill your blender carafe more than 2/3 full. Blend until smooth.

Add the blended soup back to the pot. Turn on flame and warm the soup again. Extinguish flame and stir in cream. Add salt to taste. To serve, ladle into soup bowls and top with grated Parmesan.

Cangrejo (River Crab) Potato Chowder — The soup served!

Here are the recipes.

Crab Stock

2 lb cangrejo abdomens (halved) and spindly legs
1 large white onion, chopped coarsely
2 stalks celery, leaves removed, chopped coarsely
1 1/2 cups tomato guts (from the last time you made marinara sauce, perhaps)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 dried bay leaves, edges torn
2 tsp black peppercorns
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Remove the feathery gills and the beaklike appendage from the abdomens and cut them down the center. If they are large, cut them in half again to expose more meat.

Cover with 2 – 3 quarts of water — whatever it takes to just cover the pieces. Bring to a rolling boil, skimming foam as necessary. Reduce heat to a rapid simmer.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour. Taste after the hour, and cook for up to 20 minutes more if the stock is still weak. Strain the stock, first through a fine colander, then through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside. Clean the pot for the chowder.