History

Steaming whole crabs in seasoned salt is the oldest way Baltimore eats its Chesapeake catch, a working-waterman tradition that became the city's defining summer feast. Crabs are graded by size and sold by the dozen, steamed to order and piled high. The communal table, the mallets, the cold beer and the slow, messy work of picking are the whole point, and crab houses around the harbour and out on the water have run the ritual for generations.

Common allergens: Shellfish

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 15 minTotal 45 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1 dozen live blue crabs
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar or beer
  • Half a cup Old Bay or J.O. seasoning, plus more for layering
  • Quarter cup coarse salt
  • A large steamer pot with a rack

Method

  1. Pour the water and vinegar or beer into the pot, keeping the liquid below the rack.
  2. Bring to a hard boil, then layer the live crabs on the rack, dusting each layer heavily with Old Bay and salt.
  3. Cover and steam for 20 to 30 minutes, until the shells turn bright orange-red.
  4. Tip the crabs onto a brown-paper-covered table and let them cool enough to handle.
  5. Crack with a mallet and knife, working from the legs and back fin into the body.

Tip from the editors. Keep the crabs alive until they go in the pot, and never let the steaming liquid touch them; the seasoning should cling to the shell, not boil off.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat steamed blue crabs

Steamed blue crabs in Baltimore

LP Steamers ★ 4.4

Seafood$$$locust-point

LP Steamers in Locust Point is a classic two-storey crab house, steaming blue crabs heavy with Old Bay and serving a rooftop deck above Fort Avenue.

Signature: Steamed blue crabs, Crab cake, Old Bay shrimp

Order: A dozen heavy steamed crabs and a pitcher, eaten with mallets on the deck.

Tip: The rooftop deck is the seat to ask for; bring cash and patience in peak crab season.

1100 East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230

Mama's on the Half Shell ★ 4.2

Seafood$$$canton

Mama's on the Half Shell on Canton Square is a neighbourhood crab-and-oyster house, working steamed crabs, oysters and a crab cake across two busy floors.

Signature: Steamed crabs, Oysters, Crab cake

Order: A dozen steamed crabs in season, or the crab cake the rest of the year.

Tip: Weekend afternoons overflow with locals; ask for a seat upstairs or out on the patio.

2901 O'Donnell Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Faidley's Seafood ★ 4.7

downtownMon-Sat daytime, closed Sunday

Faidley's stand inside Lexington Market serves the city's benchmark crab cake since 1886, almost all jumbo lump, eaten standing at a counter off brown paper.

Try: Jumbo lump crab cake

Tip: Order the all-lump grade and eat it at the stand-up rail; it also fries a classic lake trout.

119 North Paca Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

More cities are in research. Want steamed blue crabs covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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