June 20, 2007
Eating In: Soft Shell Crabs
Soft shell crab season is half way over and we can’t believe that we haven’t paid proper tribute to this much-anticipated D.C. delicacy. Now we love our deep-fried crustaceans just as much as the next person, but as with everything we had to put a little spin on the ordinary. We did stick to the sandwich concept, because not only have we not featured soft shell crabs but we’ve yet to do up a sandwich recipe. Instead of frying these delicate little critters, we gave them a nice little sauté and in lieu of lettuce, tomato, and some sort of aioli we did fresh spinach, peach slices and roasted peppers with balsamic.
Before getting started, here are just a few things to know about soft shell crabs. Fishermen harvest the crabs as they begin to molt and hold them in tanks to monitor them. As soon as they shed their shell they are ready for consumption. The crabs can be found live, fresh or frozen. Although frozen soft shells can be found year-round, we think it’s best to buy them live and keep them that way until right before cooking. The most commonly found type, especially in this area, is the Blue Crab. Their season runs, roughly, from May to July/August. Because the demand for this unique product has increased drastically, we are beginning to see the Asian Mangrove crab. This type of crab typically grows in tropical, muddy flats all year, which makes them a continual source. But for the sake of keeping it fresh and local we prefer our once a year blue crabs. The anticipation is what makes them that much more enticing!
We served our sandwich on Portuguese rolls, but your starch preference is your prerogative. On the side we just served up some grapes on the vine, as we did not want to take the attention away from the matter at hand. This recipe makes 2 sandwiches.
Shopping List:
2 live soft shell crabs
1 medium, ripe peach
2 oz. fresh spinach
1 small red bell pepper
2 tsp. capers
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
AP flour for dusting crabs
1 tbsp. butter
2 portuguese rolls
½ bunch of grapes
Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the sides of the pepper off into four pieces. Remove and discard any seeds. Toss pepper with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place on a small tray and roast in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the pepper is soft and the skin turns brown.
2. When the peppers are done, place in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap (this will help you remove the skin). When they are cool, peel the skin off and slice them thinly.
3. Toss the peppers with the capers, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 ½ tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Lightly sprinkle with salt.
4. Thinly slice the peach and rinse the spinach.
Finishing:
5. Remove the heads of the crabs, if desired, by simply cutting them off. Lightly and evenly dust them with flour.
6. Heat a medium sauté pan to a med/high heat. Melt 1 tbsp of butter. Slice the buns in half and place them in the pan to lightly toast. Once they are slightly golden remove and place the crabs top “shell” side down. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté for about 3-4 mins. Turn the crabs over once the turn golden brown and sauté another 3-4 minutes.
7. Assemble sandwiches by layering the spinach first then the peaches. Place the crab on top of the peaches and top with the balsamic/pepper mixture. Serve grapes on the side.
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Hmmm....carbs...good. One thing, you need to remove the "lungs" before cooking.
I had a strangely delicious soft shell crab panini at 2 Amy's the other day. mmm.
Half the fun of making softshell crabs is sawing their crabby little faces off! A pair of poultry shears work wonders here. It's almost as fun as making fresh catfish filets. As a wee monkey, I still remember watching my mom whack mercilessly at a live catfish's skull in our kitchen sink. Heads like cinderblocks, they have. I think the terror releases some sort of flavor hormone that makes the food extra delicious. Their agony is our endorphin.
"Remove the heads of the crabs, if desired, by simply cutting them off."
I hope you get eaten by a shark.
First of all, soft shell crabs are not a D.C. thing, they are a Maryland thing (although certainly enjoyed and consumed by us Washingtonians). And secondedly, why, why, why would you bastardize a soft shell crab in this way. The only, and I do mean only way to eat as soft shell is lightly floured and pan fried in butter on white toast with nothing else. Anything else, especially the fussy stuff you've added to it, just reduces the taste of the crab.
I hope you get eaten by a shark.
Look out; angry vegans on the loose!
What kind of peach is that? It looks rather pear-y.
I must second Adams Morgan's comment.
Adams Morgan- we cover DC/metro area. So we were under the assumption that people knew the crabs were from Maryland but still enjoyed in the District. And I'm sorry you're so sheltered and can only eat soft shell crabs one way- the crab flavor came through just fine.
Chuckles- it does look kind of pear-y but it was a "white peach"
What kind of peach is that? It looks rather pear-y.
It's white peach; my kid was eating one the other day and I thought it was an apple until I had a bite.
Re: Post #5. Have to give an "Amen" to our food-purist friend, Adams Morgan, who is right on with the correct way to eat a soft shell. You're a local, ain't ya? BTW, bell peppers are the bullies of the food world, with their overpowering nastiness masking whatever it is you WANT to taste.
Mmmmmmm, shark sammich.
Oh come on. Crabs are arthropods. That means they have about as much ability to suffer as a bug. Do you feel guilty when you swat a mosquito or step on a cockroach? It's one thing to worry about hurting our mammalian cousins, but bug cousins?
For DCist Bites it-"I hope you get eaten by a shark" Calm down, at least the heads are still on in the pictures.
Let's be serious: mahi mahi dolphin are tasty enough to be worth the possible fires of flesh-eater hell. mmmm mammals. feel free to do whatever to my face when i'm dead.
Soft shell crabs are an everywhere thing, Adams Morgan. The entire eastern seaboard eats them, from Florida to Maine.
Adams Morgan- we cover DC/metro area. So we were under the assumption that people knew the crabs were from Maryland but still enjoyed in the District"
So what you are saying is that softshell crabs are not a D.C. delicacy? But in the post you said....?
Softshells can come from Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware or New Jersey. Where they cannot come from is D.C.
Re: ...And I'm sorry you're so sheltered and can only eat soft shell crabs one way- the crab flavor came through just fine.
And the lung flavor too? My, my, my whole life in Maryland I had no idea that crab lungs were at tasty as bell pepper and capers.
Do you even like crab?
Okay before everyone pops a blood vessel, change "DC delicacy to DC-area delicacy."
And yes we love crab...
@english major: Mahi mahi is dolphin-fish, not the mammal dolphin.
Oh for God's sake. DC was carved out of Maryland and Virginia. Why the pointless line drawing?
Why don't we just say they're a Chesapeake Bay delicacy and cut out the masturbatory throat-clearing?
Any road, it looks like a yummy recipe... soft shells are also great on the grill, just with a drizle of lemon juice.
But -- you do want to clean them first... cut off the faces, lift the shell flaps, scrape out the feather-looking gill things and the guts part (but leave the green/yellow goo).
Mmmmm, goo. But not till it's cooked.