How to be a better cook

How to be a better cook

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How to be a better cook
How to be a better cook
A complete guide to cooking a Mud crab.

A complete guide to cooking a Mud crab.

Plus recipes for: Mud crab curry, a pretty special sandwich and a cracking crab paella.

Darren Robertson's avatar
Darren Robertson
Jul 18, 2025
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How to be a better cook
How to be a better cook
A complete guide to cooking a Mud crab.
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Mud Crab had to be in my top 3 favourite ingredients of all time. Chili crab with a cold beer, maybe my death row dish. And to be honest, even a simply boiled crab with lemon, bread and butter is pretty hard to beat.

Last weekend my son caught a mud crab on a little road trip down the coast (with a little help from a friend, cheers Sam!), this time we cooked something a little less spicy, an epic Paella.

So this week, I thought I’d share the Paella recipe, a complete guide to boiling a crab, and recipes for a pretty special crab sandwich and crab and sweet potato curry.


Mud Crab Paella

A great recipe to feed 4 - 6 people. If you can’t get your hands on a crab, sub out with prawns or chicken thighs. I would’ve added saffron too if I had some!

Have your ingredients ready to go before you cook.

Serves 4–6

Ingredients

1 mud crab (about 1.2–1.5kg), cleaned and cut into quarters

150g calamari, cleaned and sliced

150g spicy chorizo, sliced

1 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 marinaded capsicum, sliced

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 large ripe tomatoes, grated (or 200g tinned crushed tomatoes)

300g paella rice (bomba or calasparra or a medium grain)

900ml stock (hot)

150g frozen peas

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lemon, parsley, fennel fronds to serve

Method

Fry the chorizo: In a wide paella pan (or large heavy pan), heat a splash of olive oil. Add chorizo and fry until golden. Set aside, leaving the oil in the pan.

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