Green Crab Sauce Américaine

By Kevin Kelly of After Hours | 2.5 Hours

This dish is all about the flavor and umami-forward taste you can get from using green crabs. Think bisque meets chowder and can be shifted into different pallet directions with different spices you might want to use! The sauce is a relatively simple cream sauce, but can be adjusted to fit your style very easily with simple variations (i.e. using different herbs, using brown butter, charging in an ISI, adding gelatin or agar, etc.). My biggest tip for this recipe is not to be afraid of how much butter you use. It can take it.

GreenCrab.org teamed up with After Hours for a hospitality dinner in late April 2025 at Paige’s Place in Otis, MA with a green-crab-centric menu featuring local produce and brews and Wulf’s Fish green crab

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 quart heavy cream

  • 1 quart whole milk

  • 2 lbs green crab

  • 5x bay leaves

  • 3 sprigs rosemary

  • 1 dried cayenne

  • 8 Green Cardamom pods

  • 5 Garlic Gloves

  • 2" turmeric

  • 2" ginger

  • 1- 1.5 lbs butter (tempered, medium diced)

  • black pepper to taste

  • salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Combine green crabs, milk, heavy cream, bay leaves, rosemary, cayenne, cardamom, garlic, turmeric, and ginger in a medium stock pot.

  2. Heat over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally to ensure liquid doesn't scorch. Continue to heat for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally until crabs can be broken into smaller parts.

  3. Turn heat off and allow to steep for 20-30 minutes.

  4. While still hot, strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve.

  5. Fill blender halfway with liquid.

  6. Blend on medium/high and mount with diced butter in equal batches to the amount of liquid you have (likely 3-4 batches). Season to taste and allow to cool. Heat to order and enjoy! 

Green Crabs on the Menu: After Hours

We chatted with Chef Kevin Kelly about cooking with green crabs and designing a green-crab-centric menu. Photos by @biteofnewengland

Western Mass Green Crab Sourcing

Looking to supply green crabs to your restaurant in Western, MA? Wulf’s Fish offers live and frozen green crabs to the region.