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Culinary Info and Fish Preparation Q&As  
By guest fishing chef, jk105.
 

 

Soft Shell Crabs?
"Soft Shell Crabs" are the soft bodied, freshly molted blue crab.
Guest Writer for FishingChef.com

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The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, famous in the mid-Atlantic States, is the variety being discussed here. The blue crab has a potential life span of about three years. In that life span, it becomes a soft shell just after each molt and is in this stage for less than a couple of hours. In their three-year life span, this crab may molt between 18 to 23 times. The peak times for the molting stages are May through September; thus the beginning and ending of the soft shell crab season.

The soft shells arrive fresh and live. In my restaurant kitchens, the season's first delivery of soft shell crabs is a highly anticipated event. They arrive on the dock tightly packed in shallow cardboard boxes lined up like tiny soldiers, in perfect formation and dressed in brilliant red, white and blue uniforms, covered in hay to keep them moist and alive.

On this first delivery, a few crabs are sacrificed to a speedy cook's ritual one-eye-on-the-door for the owner, then 'address the crabs': faces removed, gills trimmed and aprons pulled off (the crabs). A quick salt, pepper, dust of flour and into a hot sauté pan. They are then torn apart with a pair of tongs, dipped into whatever Remoulade or pesto is on the prep carts. These hijacked offerings are usually prepped, devoured and all evidence disposed of within 5 minutes after checking in the delivery—you just can't wait.

Differences in Preparation Between Hard Shell and Soft Shell Crabs

The hard shell blue crabs are considerably more stubborn in relinquishing their tasty tid-bits. The hard shell crab is first cooked in court bouillon or a crab boil mix. Then the fun begins—removing the tiny edible portions from the crab's armor defenses. At this stage you will need formal training: a mallet, picker, knife and brut force are the equipment and the challenge is to access the meat. The hard shell protects the arms and claws. The carapace presents another challenge in that the meat is segmented by numerous slots of hard and brittle shell. These shell pieces do break off and find their way into the meat during removal. More than a few cooks have made crab cakes that had an additional crunch other than just what the panko crust had imparted.

Hard shell crabs provide the commercially available crab seen in #1 can size 'lump' meat (removed from the carapace) and 'claw' meat from, yes, the claw but also the merus (arm section) may be included.

The hard shell crabs are fun to eat and better suited to outdoor picnic benches, with some old clothes, a big mallet, and a few hours to relax and pick and scrape through the carnage of shells and mallet-smashed meat.

Soft shell crab preparation is much simpler: you eat the entire crab—shell and all except for some small unpleasant bits that are easily removed in less than a minute during prep. Prep includes some snips with only a pair of kitchen shears or regular scissors and the crab is ready to cook. Crab eating free from teeth shattering crunches.

Recipes for Soft Shell Crab

Good recipes are as simple as salt and pepper and a dredging in flour. A quick sauté in hot pan and served with a favorite brand of cocktail sauce or on a bun with lettuce, tomato and onion. For stunningly sophisticated simplicity, check out the soft shell crab recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook.

Enjoy the softies and work to preserve our resources.

 

 
 


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More Culinary Info:

Classifications of Fish and Seafood with examples.

Forms of Fish and Seafood (how they are available).

Market Forms of Cut Fresh Fish.

Dry Heat Cooking Methods for Fish and Seafood.

Moist Heat Cooking Methods for Fish and Seafood.

Basics of Grilling Fish and Seafood.

Guidelines for Microwaving Fish and Seafood.

A Classic Procedure for Steaming Mussels or Clams.

Basics of Court Bouillon and Fumet.

Basics of Marinades.

What's in a Good Shrimp (or Crab) Boil?


 

 

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