Editor’s note: This is the second part of a series exploring the seafood from South Florida’s waters and how to enjoy it at home.

While preparing fin fish at home can be a hard sell, it’s much easier to eat already cooked stone crab claws or to boil up a mess of shrimp. Florida lobster season sets everybody abuzz as we await those tasty tails. And although golden crab is a local specialty (you can’t get it anyplace else), not many people have tasted the sweet meat under its buff carapace.

Perhaps now is the time to try it.

“While there can be a lot of variables to cooking fish, people find things like crab, shrimp and lobster more familiar and easier to prepare,” says Barbera Turnbull, with the bureau of seafood and aquaculture marketing for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Maybe that’s why shrimp is the top-selling seafood in the country.

So to help us get the most out of South Florida’s favorite crustaceans, we turned to Brian Frasco, co-owner of Fish Peddler East in Fort Lauderdale. For Frasco’s detailed guide to preparing stone crab, shrimp, spiny lobster and golden crab, see page 8.

Stone crab

There are three species of crab considered to be Gulf of Mexico stone crabs, which are in season Oct. 15 to May 15. These are Menippe maercenaria, Menippe adina and the interbreeding hybrid of the two species.

Stone crabs are found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts but are commercially harvested almost entirely in Florida.

They are captured with traps, which are re-baited every other day. Florida law forbids the taking of whole stone crabs. Instead, fishermen are allowed to take one of the crab’s oversized claws, which is harvested, cooked and sold. The claws must be at least 2 3/4 inches long, and the crab itself must be returned safely to the water. The crab can regenerate their claws three to four times.

To serve stone crab claws, crack all sections of the shell with a hammer or nutcracker, remove the shell and movable pincer, leaving the meat attached (your fishmonger can crack the shells for you with a special contraption). The flesh tastes like a cross between crab and lobster. It’s commonly enjoyed with a mustard sauce. Try this combination: Combine 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons prepared mustard and 2 teaspoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 30 seconds. Stir in 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately with 4 pounds chilled Florida stone crab claws to four hungry people.

Shrimp

According to research by the U.S. Department of Commerce, shrimp is the first seafood choice with consumers. Florida’s commercial shrimpers caught 28 million pounds in 2004.

In Florida, there are five shrimp species of commercial value, and other than rock shrimp, they are categorized by color: brown, pink, white (caught off the Atlantic coast) and royal red (caught off the coast of St. Augustine). The majority of the shrimp available in South Florida are pink and many come from the shores of Key West. The peak seasons are March through May and October through December.

Most pinks can only be caught at night when the moon is not full. This is because pink shrimp are skittish; when the sun is bright they hide from predators in the sand. So depending on the time of year and how far they have to go offshore, commercial shrimpers who seek pink shrimp may have to live onboard for two to three weeks while they trawl for their catch.

Florida wild-caught shrimp has a sweet flavor and is low in saturated and other fats and calories. When shopping, purchase 1/3 pound raw, headless, unpeeled shrimp per serving; 1/6 pound peeled and deveined shrimp per serving.

Two pounds raw, headless, unpeeled shrimp yields 1 pound cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp. Look for large shrimp that are 21 to 30 per pound if you want to peel and eat them.

The best way to boil shrimp is to heat a large pot of water seasoned with your favorite combination of spices (try Old Bay or Tony Chachere’s Creole spice mix or make your own combination of pickling spices, whole peppercorns and bay leaves). When the water boils, add the shrimp in their shells and return to the boil. Stir periodically, and when the shrimp just begin to float (3 to 4 minutes), remove the pot from the heat, drain the shrimp and plunge them in ice water until chilled. Drain again for peel-and-eat shrimp.

For a simple seafood sauce, combine ketchup, prepared horseradish, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce to taste (use plenty of horseradish).

Spiny lobster

The spiny lobster is a clawless crustacean related to crabs, shrimp and crayfish. It is caught in the Keys and around the southern tip of the state from the Atlantic Ocean near the Florida Reef Tract.

The spiny lobster is characterized by numerous spines on its body, two large hooked horns over the eyes, a pair of jointed antennae and five pairs of walking legs. It has mottled yellow, brown, orange and blue on its body and tail. The tail is segmented and can rapidly curl under the body to propel the lobster backward.

The spiny lobster sheds its shell to grow. It eats clams, snails, seaweed and small marine organisms. Lobsters form single lines, called marches, and move from shallow to deep water during seasonal migrations.

Spiny lobsters are harvested using traps at depths of 6 to 300 feet and are usually landed live. This year the two-day sport season runs July 26 and 27; the regular season is Aug. 6 through March 31.

Brian Frasco of Fish Peddler East suggests you purchase fresh spiny lobster tails. The average ones are 8 ounces.

To prepare them, he recommends baking. Take the tail and split the shell down the back. Open it out and brush it with olive oil or butter and sprinkle with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Bake in a 350-degree oven 12 to 15 minutes depending on size. After 12 minutes, check the lobster. The meat should be firm but not hard.

An old restaurant tip, Frasco says, is to cover the lobster with lettuce leaves during the first 10 minutes, of cooking to bind in moisture.

You can use the same technique on a grill over medium heat. Start the lobster with the meat side down and grill 5 minutes, just until it gets grill marks. Turn, baste with more oil or butter and grill another 6 minutes until firm but not hard.

Or, you can remove the meat from the shell and dice it to use in your favorite scampi recipe.

If you must cook it in water, he recommends steaming instead of boiling.

Sources: Fish, The Basics by Shirley King (Chapters, 1996); Good Seafood Book (Norton, 1994) by Jane Brody; Fish on a First-Name Basis (St. Martin’s, 2006) by Rob DeBorde; Florida Seafood and Aquaculture; David Wright who fishes golden crab out of Marathon; Brian Frasco, co-owner Fish Peddler East, 2805 E. Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.

Golden crab

This crab has delicate textured, surprisingly sweet meat that is low in fat, and it tends to be inexpensive (less than $4 a pound). But many South Floridians avoid golden crab because its shell doesn’t turn red when cooked, says Brian Frasco, who doesn’t carry it at Fish Peddler East because his customers won’t buy it. Instead, they opt for the more conventional Dungeness, snow or king crabs, which is too bad. You can’t get Golden Crab anywhere else in the country.

Golden crabs live at depths of 540 to 2,160 feet off the east coast of Florida and 1,140 to 2,889 feet in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Florida Keys. They are caught in traps that are pulled up by grappling hooks and mechanical pulleys, explains David Wright, who fishes golden crab out of Marathon.

The crabs are large, nonswimming animals with golden-cream shells. It’s the adult male that is caught for sale. An average crab weighs 3 to 4 pounds. Store live golden crabs in a large container with a lid. Do not add water or ice. Cook it the day you buy it.

Steam the whole crabs 20 minutes. The crab is done when the legs can easily be pulled from their joints (don’t expect the carapace to turn red).

Remove the upper shell and gills and serve the claws, legs and body with drawn butter or use the cooked, picked meat in salads and other dishes. To pick the crabmeat, pull the meat out of the legs by carefully breaking the joints; remove the claw meat by pulling out the movable pincer. Breaking the body cartilage apart exposes the remaining crabmeat.

Store cooked crab halves and clusters and crabmeat in the coldest part of your refrigerator at 32 degrees for up to two days.

TEST KITCHEN TIP

If the golden crab’s pale carapace puts you off, use the picked meat in salads, crab cakes and other recipes. It’s delicious and relatively inexpensive and you won’t see the shell.

If you want to cook golden crab at home, you can purchase it at Delaware Chicken Farm, 4191 North State Road 7, Hollywood, 954-983-6831, and Two Bills, 4501 SW 44 St., Dania Beach, 954-583-1280. To try it already prepared, visit the Rustic Inn Crabhouse, 4331 Ravenswood Road, Fort Lauderdale, 954-584-1637. Call ahead to check availability.