Not only was this dish inspired by my love
for eating shellfish growing up, but this dish,
it also helped me land my wife of 21 years.
I'm Jernard Wells.
I'm a chef, cookbook author, restaurateur.
And my fried hall of fame dish, let me tell you.
Cajun king crab legs fried with a bacon skillet corn.
Mmm.
That deserves a trophy all by itself.
When I first met my wife, my pickup line was,
can I cook for you?
Look, because I figured, hey, if I cook for you,
then I knew I would have you.
When I made this dish, she picked up the phone
and called her mama.
And told her, mama, tell my sisters
and brothers I love him.
I ain't never coming home
Look at these king crab legs right here.
This is what I'm talking about.
This ain't those little babies that you playing with.
These are king crab legs.
You know how much king crab legs cost?
That's why it's a Food Fantasy.
I've already taken the liberty to boiling my crab legs.
Old Bay seasoning, bay leaves, and lemon juice.
So we can have that flavor already in them.
We have those sitting here cooling.
Now, it's all about the batter.
What I have in here, all purpose flour,
baking soda, lemon pepper season,
kosher salt, black pepper.
The tempura style batter just gives you that nice crispy
crust on those crab legs.
One of the keys to making that tempura batter
really come to life, you want to have
you some nice club soda, sparkling water,
or seltzer water.
Blend it together till it's nice and creamy.
So it'll stick to those crab legs.
But when you deep fry, oh my goodness, you're going
to get the best of both worlds.
That sweetness on the inside, that nice tempura batter crunch
on the outside.
Look at this.
We just, you just gotta finesse.
Look at this.
This is how-- this is what you do.
It's bringing tears to my eyes.
It's bringing tears to my eyes, guys.
This is what you want, right here.
My wife love those big chunks.
This is one of those things, when I was a child,
I used to dream about eating king crab legs.
You know, going into the fish markets with my mom and dad.
And just looking at how big those king crab legs is.
I knew it was nothing but sweet, juicy meat in them.
This is it, right here.
Batter.
We're gonna layer them in nice and easy.
And my mouth is already salivating.
Remember, we already boiled the crab
legs, so they're already done.
We just want that crust on the outside to get nice and crispy.
All about the crunch and saltiness at the same time.
Pull them out of the fryer when they're perfectly golden brown.
Then it's time to start on that sauteed skillet corn.
Hickory bacon, some diced onions,
some diced bell peppers, right over the top of that bacon.
So when we add this corn to it--
Now, if you don't want to go through shaving fresh corn,
you could short cut it and use a can.
But guess what, this is Food Fantasy.
We shaving this off the cob.
Just takes hold of it all.
Oh, this right here just smells amazing to my nose.
So I lay those fried king crab legs right over the top
of my skillet corn.
Then I have my Creole sauce, which
is made with hot sauce, chili powder, cayenne pepper, butter,
and brown sugar.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm hearing music right about now.
It's a symphony.
This is so worthy of the fried hall of fame.
Magnificent, tender, sweet, crunchy,
the right amount of spice.
When is the induction ceremony?
Anybody know when the induction ceremony?
Because I'm ready.