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Soft Shell Crabs
Facing Up to Soft Shells Soft Shell Blue Crabs: Easy to Cook, Easy to Enjoy. The Rest Is Just Dressing. Consider the “soft shell” blue crab. Busting with too much meat, you’ve
outgrown and shed your shell, perhaps for the second, third, fifth time this summer. And for a few vulnerable hours, your
normally tough-as-nails hide, isn’t. In fact, it’s chewy-thin and somehow you’ve turned into a boneless
filet of crabmeat. Completely edible.
Enter human beings. Iron skillets. And butter. Soft shell crabs — or soft shells, or soft crabs, or softies, or peelers — are wonderfully
easy to cook. They’re available in our area from April to October. Fresh, that is. You can get them frozen year-round.
And the preparation, once they’re dressed, couldn’t be easier. No shells to pick, just plop them in a cooking
pan and there you go. The Easy Part: Making
Them (Delicious). One of the most popular ways to prepare
soft shells? Pan-fry. Just give them a simple dusting of seasoned coating and a quick sauté in a little oil or
butter or both. Serve in a sandwich (one per person) or as your entrée, (generally two per). The crabs can be as low-down
simple or as upscale elegant as you want. These recipes show how delightfully easy a memorable sautéed soft crab meal can be.
Another method: Bake in the oven. The Maryland Seafood Association offers this recipe of baked soft crabs, stuffed with crabmeat, drizzled only with butter. (Whoa. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson…”doughnuts….”)
The Hard Part: Getting Past the "Ew." Soft-shells make one realize how good it is to be at the top of the food
chain. And especially good to be at the tippy-top, where you can actually have someone else handle your meal prep for you.
Because preparing soft-shells isn’t pretty. If you like the one-ness of
killing and eating your food, that’s different. But if you like to open a package, rinse your food and gently place
it into a sizzling pan, you need a good seafood market. Many soft shells are laid out in the seafood case alive and on ice. In addition to some truly momentous recipes, the Maryland Seafood Association offers these instructions for prepping your own:
"Dressing or cleaning a soft crab is a simple procedure. With a pair of scissors, cut off the mouth
and face behind the eyes. Cut off the apron. Lift the top shell and snip out the lungs on each side. Run under cold water
to clean. They are now ready to cook.”
Hm. And by the way, what’s the apron? If you don’t know, I call it the “pull-tab” on the bottom of the crab. The Virginia Insititute of Marine Science has more instructions. Philosophically speaking, soft shells are no different than any other food, other than being delicious and deliciously easy. The New York Times featured soft-shells recently in a Southern-style po’boy sandwich — the most difficult part is choosing what kind of bread to use. They recommended a “less than fabulous” storebought Italian or French-style white bread — you want a bread that’s easy to bite through. Right now, at the local seafood market, you can pay $4 to $5 for a soft-shell crab, and probably easily more. But they go a long way as a meal (I like them nestled in a bed of pasta with fresh herbs). And they take well to simple seasoning. So buy a few for an easy, quick (half an hour to make) meal some night. Make sure they’re very soft. And if I were you, I'd have them cleaned. Find more recipes and information at www.marylandseafood.org |
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