In the Chesapeake Bay area off the Atlantic coast, May signaled the start of soft-shell crab season, which typically lasts throughout the summer.
These crustaceans are known for their sweet meat — even though there’s not much of it — and delicate flavor.
Soft-shell crabs are blue crabs removed from the water at their molting stage, when they’ve shed their shells and are soft. A crab sheds its shell in order to grow one that is larger; the new shell starts to harden within a few days.
With soft-shell crabs, you can eat the whole crab — legs, claws, body and soft shell.
You can buy soft-shell crabs fresh at many stores now. Make sure you buy them dressed, meaning they are cleaned and ready to cook. Most fish counters sell them this way.
Soft-shell crabs are sold and priced according to size and grade: mediums are 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide; hotels, 4 to 4 1/2 inches; primes, 4 1/2 to 5 inches; jumbos, 5 to 5 1/2 inches, and whales, 5 1/2 inches and up.
For this recipe, I bought hotels for $2.49 each at Holiday Market in Royal Oak, Mich., which gets them in fresh and already dressed, according to seafood manager Alex Draper.
“The advantage of them being already dressed is there’s no labor involved,” Draper says. “They have a longer shelf life because they are cleaned right when they are caught, and the shell won’t start to harden up.”
The crabs can be pan-sauteed, fried, deep-fried or grilled — and they cook quickly.
I find them best, as recommended in most cookbooks, lightly dusted in a fry mix or seasoned flour and pan-fried in a mix of oil and butter. It’s best to dip them in a beaten egg before dredging in flour so the flour adheres to the crabs. I use Drake’s Crispy Frymix, which is made in Marshall, Mich. Look for it in a 10-ounce yellow box with the company’s signature white duck on the front. It costs about $2 at most grocery stores.
When frying crabs, use a splatter screen because they will “spit” when water hits the oil.
Whether I use flour or fry mix, I season it with salt and pepper.
You also can add several pinches each of Old Bay Seasoning, celery salt, cayenne pepper and paprika.
You can serve soft-shell crabs on a bed of greens or place the fried crab between two slices of bread or on a bun and serve as a sandwich.
Soft-shell Crabs With Lemon-Caper Sauce
From and tested by Susan M. Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen. Preparation time: 15 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes. Serves 2.
Ingredients
4 soft-shell crabs (hotel size), cleaned and dressed
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup Drake’s Crispy Frymix
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
sauce
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallots or red onion
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed well
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Directions
Pat the crabs dry using paper towels. Set aside.
In a pie plate, whisk the egg until it’s foamy. In another pie plate, mix together the Fry mix, Old Bay Seasoning, salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat the butter and oil together over medium heat.
Dip the crabs in the egg and then dredge in the Frymix, shaking off the excess. Working in batches, place the crabs in the skillet, top shell down. Cook for about 3 minutes, then turn and cook another 3 minutes. Remove to a paper towel or brown paper bag-lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining crabs. Set crabs aside.
To make the sauce: In medium skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute about 3 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the half-and-half, lemon juice, capers and chives. Continue cooking until heated through and just slightly thickened.
Serve crabs on a bed of mixed greens drizzled with the sauce.
373 calories (51 percent from fat ), 21 grams fat (9 grams sat. fat ), 19 grams carbohydrates, 25 grams protein, 843 mg sodium, 120 mg cholesterol, 1 gram fiber.
