soft shell crab

Deep-Fried Soft-Shell Crabs in Pastella Batter

flour

eggs

salt

black pepper

milk

crabs,

vegetable oil

Italian parsley, chopped

lemons,

Mix the flour and eggs and whisk until entirely creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and milk. Whisk 1 more minute.

Add the crabs and cover. Chill 4 hours. To cook the crabs, heat the oil until it is very hot in a heavy pan over medium heat. Fry 2 crabs at once, until lightly browned, 3 minutes each side. Drain. Serve with parsley and lemons.

Broiling is perhaps the easiest way to cook soft shell crabs. All you do is oil up the crabs, lay them on a baking sheet and broil them until crisp and bronzed on both sides — under 10 minutes. It's also one of the tastiest ways to cook them: their edges crisp and char while their bellies swell with sweet, saline juices. Here, the broiled crabs are laid on toast and served as open-faced sandwiches. The toast absorbs the crab juices and also heightens the crunch. If you're pressed for time, or if you're a purist, you can skip the parsley jalapeño sauce. A lemon wedge is all you really need to bring out the sweetness of the crab.

Soft-Shell Crab Toast

parsley leaves

jalapeño peppers,

lemon

salt, more as needed

extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

(1/2-inch-thick) slices country-style bread

garlic clove,

Unsalted butter, as needed (optional)

(3-ounce) wild jumbo soft-shelled crabs, cleaned

Black pepper, as needed

Lemon wedges,

In a blender, combine parsley, jalapeño, lemon juice and salt. Add oil and 3 tablespoons water. Purée until sauce is smooth, adding additional water if needed, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick yet pourable sauce. Transfer sauce to a bowl and add more salt or lemon juice, or both, if needed.

Heat broiler. Place bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil, turning once, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Rub toast with cut garlic. Drizzle with oil or slather with butter (butter is nice on pain de mie), remove from pan and set aside.

Lightly coat crabs with oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer, belly side up, to a large baking sheet (you can use the same one you used for the toast). Broil, turning once, until crisp and golden, about 2 minutes per side.

Place one crab on top of each toast. Spoon a generous amount of sauce over each crab and serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Melissa Clark shows how soft-shelled crabs are at their best when broiled until crisp. Serve them on garlic-rubbed toast with a bright parsley-jalapeno sauce.

Soft-Shell Crab Toasts

Fans of soft-shell crab look forward to the season — late spring and early summer — with feverish anticipation. The entire delicious crab is edible and may be prepared in many ways; deep-fried, grilled or pan-cooked. Here they are sautéed in a spicy curry butter, which complements the crabs’ rich flavor. (The recipe makes more butter than is needed for this dish, but is wonderful to have on hand. Use extra for cooking vegetables or eggs.) Serve 1 large or 2 small soft-shell crabs per person.

Soft-Shell Crabs With Curry Butter

cumin seeds

coriander seeds

fennel seeds

cloves

nutmeg

cayenne

turmeric

unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

garlic

ginger

unsalted roasted almonds, crushed

scallions

rice flour,

pea shoots or baby spinach

Make the curry butter: Put the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cloves in a dry skillet over medium heat. When spices are lightly toasted and fragrant, after a minute or so, grind them to a powder in a mortar or electric spice mill. Add nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne and turmeric.

Put butter in a bowl. Add spices, garlic, ginger, salt and lime zest and juice. Mash seasonings into butter with a wooden spoon. Add crushed almonds and scallions, then mix until well incorporated. (May be prepared several hours ahead, or up to 1 day in advance.)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons curry butter, let melt and swirl pan to distribute. Dust crabs lightly with rice flour, if using. When butter is foamy, add crabs in one layer and raise heat. Let crabs cook 3 minutes, then turn, using tongs, and cook 3 minutes on the other side. (Be careful, as crabs may spatter.) Remove crabs and keep warm.

Add 4 tablespoons curry butter to pan and let sizzle. Add pea shoots and cook briefly until wilted, 1 minute or less.

Arrange crabs on a warm platter or individual plates. Garnish with wilted pea shoots and lime wedges. Spoon melted curry butter from pan over crabs and serve at once.

My ultimate soft shell crab sandwich is crispy, crunchy and so very flavorful. This easy to make sandwich takes less than 20 minutes to make.

Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches

shell crabs

all-puropse flour

tsp old bay seasoning

½ tsp black pepper

buttermilk (or whole milk)

hot sauce (optional

parsley

frying oil

hamburger buns

lettuce leaves

tomato

tbsp tartar sauce (my recipe for homemade tartar sauce)

pickle chips (sweet or dill chips)

Thaw the soft shell crabs if frozen.

Pat dry the soft shell crabs with paper towels.

Add the all-purpose flour, old bay seasoning, and black pepper to a shallow bowl.  Mix well to combine.

Add the buttermilk (or whole milk), egg, hot sauce, and chopped Italian parsley to a shallow bowl and whisk to combine. I added the chopped parsley thinking I was making a batter more than an egg wash.  It didn&#39;t show through the breading as I hoped it would,  so feel free to leave out the parsley.

Dredge the crab in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.

Dip the floured crab into the egg batter to fully coat in the eggwash. Let any excess drip off.

Place the egg-washed crab into the seasoned flour for a second coating of flour.  Shake off excess flour.

Add one inch of cooking oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil is shimmering (approx 325 degrees F), add the breaded soft shell crabs to the pan.

Cook the crabs in the hot oil for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain the fried crabs on paper towels.

Add lettuce leaves, and a thick tomato slice to the bottom of a hamburger bun.

Place the fried soft shell crab on top of the tomato slice and top with tarter sauce and pickle chips. Add the top of the bun and enjoy!I like bread and butter chips, but you can use dill chips if you prefer.

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Deep-Fried Soft-Shell Crabs in Past...

Soft-Shell Crab Toast

Soft-Shell Crabs With Curry Butter

Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches

Top 4 soft shell crab recipes from across the web

The most viewed soft shell crab recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Deep-Fried Soft-Shell Crabs in Past...

Soft-Shell Crab Toast

Soft-Shell Crabs With Curry Butter

Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches

The most viewed soft shell crab recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine