Crab

This spicy, tangy, rich seafood dish may have several elements, but once they all come together it's absolute magic.

Sprouting and frying the sunflower seeds completely transforms their flavor. But just using salted, roasted sunflower seeds would also work fine.

You don’t have to book a reservation at your favorite seafood house to dig into flaky crab cakes—just make these simple ones in your broiler at home! Crab is an overlooked superfood, low in calories and high in complete protein, vitamin B12, and zinc, all key building blocks of your body and brain. Flaxseeds and hemp seeds bring in fiber and protein, so you stay full longer. If you spy reddish microgreens or fresh nasturtiums at your local farmers’ market, they will make lovely garnishes for this gourmet meal and add a spicy note.

Lobster rolls may get all the glory, but crab rolls are way easier to pull off at home—and, dare we say it, maybe even more delicious.

I love getting some color into my salads. In this recipe it's by adding some pink grapefruit and radishes. Combining fresh flavors with a good source of protein scores this salad top marks for energy and vitality.

This works as a fancy little passed hors d'oeuvre toast or as a more substantial dinner toast. As an hors d'oeuvre, it'll pair especially well with rose but also any sparkling wine or crisp white. If you're eating it for dinner, saute some garlicky bok choy or watercress on the side, plus a little kimchi for bite. If you're tight on cash but still want to impress, this is a great one-you don't need to buy the most expensive crab; the miso makes up for it. That said, it's always best to buy the highest quality you can afford.

A long-standing Maryland favorite, the crab cake—plus fresh avocado and a dollop of Sriracha mayo—pumps up an iconic sandwich.

She-crab soup might just be this city's most overworked culinary icon—so much so that in restaurants of quality in Charleston, you can detect more than a few chefs assiduously avoiding it. But an expertly made she-crab soup is a rare pleasure at home, and should be a part of every cook's repertoire. When we were in our teenage years, the soup seemed extra special because it's seasoned with sherry and traditionally served with a cruet of the fortified wine, the latter to pass around the table in case you wanted to add an extra jolt. But she-crab soup isn't about the sherry (and in fact, we've come to realize that too often the sherry overpowers the crab), it's about the roe; and we don't think we'd ever truly reckoned with how important that roe is—coupled with the freshest crab meat you can find, of course—until the recent spring day we picked and cleaned an entire bushel of crabs (eighty, give or take) in a sitting. Since female crabs with roe inside are most prevalent in the spring, we found crab roe inside many of the adult females, called "sooks," as we cleaned them, after cooking. When you remove the carapace (or top shell) from the body of the crab, the crab roe—if it's there—will appear as a mass of bright orange in the middle of the body, and sometimes you may also find more roe tucked in the sharp left and right points of the carapace. The roe has an earthy-briny flavor, and adds a pale orange color to this soup. In our recipe, we blend it into the soup itself and also use a portion to garnish each bowl. Is it possible to buy crab roe alone? Unfortunately, no. So when we make this soup now, we buy picked crab meat and a half-dozen female crabs with roe from our local market. Any fish market that takes the time to sell hard-shell blue crabs will know how to spot a female with crab roe, because the roe makes the underside of the carapace appear light orange. It really is worth going to the trouble to find the real deal; you won't be disappointed! Regarding the sherry: recently we've taken to giving each guest his or her own shot glass full of fino sherry (one of the most delicate expressions of the fortified wine) to drink as a paired beverage, instead of sending a cruet around the table.

If you believe that frying makes everything taste better, get the oil ready, because after popping one of these hush puppies into your mouth, you’ll quickly need countless more. Creole mustard, a Louisiana specialty, may not be readily available at your local market, but you can substitute whole-grain Dijon mustard. Having a deep-fry thermometer will make the frying process easier, as oil that’s not hot enough will lead to greasy and soggy fritters. And to keep the oil temperature from dropping too much, cook the hush puppies in small batches as directed.

Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery in Miami Beach, Florida, shared this recipe as part of a Palm Tree Christmas menu he created exclusively for Epicurious. This dish was the traditional Christmas starter for Wessel's family during holidays spent at his Grandmother Esther's house in Miami Beach. "Some people put out foie gras pâté at Christmas as a starter, but in Miami, people will break out the stone crabs," he says.

If you have difficulty finding buster crabs or small soft shells, you can use large soft shell crabs, quartered, and they'll still make a great dish.

This might be the Italian answer to Seafood Newberg: chunks of crab and clams in a rich cream sauce tossed with wide noodles. If you really like clams, it’s worth checking to see if you can buy fresh chopped cooked clams at your fish market; the pieces tend to be a little bigger and meatier, with a more subtle, briny flavor than those in cans. The cream sauce is tinted a pretty pink from the tomatoes.

This is one of the prettiest dishes I have ever made. It’s perfect for a ladies’ lunch, as it’s not too heavy and is extremely elegant looking. Make it ahead of time and serve slightly chilled. You could also substitute chopped cooked shrimp for the crab if you prefer.

This dish is very elegant, and the combination of crab and creamy béchamel sauce is unusual and delicious. It’s a showstopper.

Papaya is packed with vitamin C and beta-carotene; endive is an excellent source of fiber and vitamins A and C.

Mexico is blessed with one of the largest coastlines in the world, touching two oceans and two seas. Consequently, it has a very rich and diverse seafood culture. One of the centers for great seafood eating, including crab, is the Atlantic port Veracruz. Seafood vendors populate the market, their counters painted in the hottest tropical colors and the marinated catch of the day displayed in huge sundae glasses. Order mariscos of just one type or mix and match—the vendors compete with one another to make bigger cocktails in their own special way. When shopping for fennel, look for ones with tops intact; they add extra freshness to a recipe and a more complete fennel taste. If you cannot find fennel with tops, garnish with one teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon. For extra splash at a more formal party, slices of black truffles (if you want to splurge) or a few drops of truffle oil add elegance.

Soft shell crabs are blue crabs that have shed their hard shells. But they are soft for only a very short amount of time; in another six to eight hours, if left in the water, their hard shells re-form. Their season is also brief, depending on the region. In the cold waters of the Chesapeake Bay (shared by Maryland and Virginia)—the most famous region for blue crabs—they are available only in the spring; those from the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico may be harvested for longer periods but in much smaller numbers. In parts of Asia, where there is a high demand, crabs have become available year-round.

Matt makes a point to return to Italy every year for inspiration. On a recent trip, he happily returned with the idea for this sea urchin pasta dish, the only cold pasta we serve. I love sea urchins, or ricci. They are a delicacy of many seaside regions in Italy, such as Puglia and Sicily, but many aficionados say that the best sea urchins come from the waters off Southern California. Cooked lump crab meat is readily available at seafood stores and in the seafood sections of high-end grocery stores.

Pappardelle are long, flat, wide noodles; fettuccine or linguine work just as well. We recommend chopping the peas slightly before cooking them; otherwise, they have a tendency to roll off the pasta when you eat.