Season with two tablespoons of sea salt. Allot at least 1 liter (0.3 US gal) for each crab that you are cooking. 2 crabs would mean at least 2 liters (0.5 US gal) of water, while 5 crabs would mean at least 5 liters (1.3 US gal) of water. If you want to stun the crab before dropping it in (thus killing it more humanely), take it by its legs and gently wave its head through the top of the water for several seconds.  The crab's shell will turn a bright orange color when the crab is fully cooked.  A large crab (~2 lbs) will take between 15 and 20 minutes to cook. A smaller crab (~1 lb or below) will take between 8 and 10 minutes to cook.  Twist off the claws and legs of the crab. Use a crab mallet or a nutcracker to break the crab shell at the joints and then in the widest part of the shell. Place the crab upside down. Then pull up the tail flap (also called an "apron") and throw away. Turn the crab over and discard the upper shell. Then place the crab on its back again and wipe away the gills, innards, and jaw. Crack the crab in half and enjoy the meat inside the body.
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One-sentence summary -- Bring several liters (8 to 9 cups) of water to boil to cook two crabs. Gently drop the crab(s) into the boiling water. Bring water back to a boil and then turn heat down to low, simmering. Once the water is simmering, cook the crab(s) depending on their weight. Shock the crab(s) in an ice-water bath for 20 seconds to stop the meat from overcooking. Serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator and serve cold.


The East Wind is the dealer for that game. Whoever rolls the highest on 2 dice is designated as the East Wind. The West Wind is across from the East Wind, while the North Wind is to the East's left and the South is to the East's Right. The person to the right of the East Wind, the South Wind, goes first. Set all the tiles in the middle of the table and turn them upside-down. Mix them around with your hands to shuffle the tiles. The East Wind can decide when the tiles are shuffled enough. The East Wind deals 1 tile to each player at a time. When each player has 13, stop dealing. You'll have tiles leftover. Just leave them in the middle in a group, as you'll draw from them throughout the game. Line up the tiles facing you to form your hand. In traditional mahjong, you make a wall of tiles in front of each player before dealing, 36 tiles each in stacks of 2. Then you push all the walls together to form a square. The East Wind throws 2 dice, then counts from the right to that point in the wall and pushes 2 stacks of tiles forward to put in their hand. Players take turns pulling out stacks, 2 stacks at a time until they reach 12 each. Then, the East takes 2 tiles and the other 3 players take a single tile. This rule is a variant, and it's typically only used in the American version. It's divided into 3 parts. You must do the Charleston the first time. All you do is take 3 tiles from your hand that you want to discard and pass them to the right, called the first pass. Then you do the same with the person across from you (second pass) and then for the person to your left (third pass). If everyone agrees, you can do the whole process a second time, but if 1 person says "no," you don't.  On the third pass, you can use a "blind" pass, meaning you can move 1-3 tiles that are passed to you on to the next person without looking at them. Make sure you still pass 3, making up the extra from your hand. You can also do a courtesy pass at the end, where the players across from each agree to exchange 1-3 tiles. This is optional, and both players must agree on the pass, stating how many tiles they want to exchange. Whichever number is lower is the one used.
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One-sentence summary --
Roll a set of dice to see who will be the East Wind. Place the tiles face-down to shuffle them and deal. Have the East Wind deal 13 tiles to each person. Pass tiles using the "Charleston" rule in American mahjong.