Soft shell crab is a delicacy that is seasonal during May and June. This version features an Asian flair, but has only a hint of spice. You can adjust the spiciness to your liking. Our family enjoys seasonal ingredients and we look forward to each enjoying each month’s unique ingredient. The ingredient amount amounts will serve one, but can easily be adjusted to accommodate the number of people you are serving. If you are apprehensive about how to make them, see Chatty Advice. We will walk you through the very simple process of purchasing a soft shell crab, cleaning them and how to cook them. Follow our step by step instructions Preparing Soft Shell Crabs for Sautèing technique. If you like this recipe try our Soft Shell Crabs with a Chive Blossom Butter.
Ingredients
1 soft shell crab, rinsed, cleaned and drained
1 tablespoon of flour
A sprinkle of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of coconut oil or toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon of chili paste found in the Asian section of your grocery store
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of sliced green onions
Technique
In a medium dish add the flour and a sprinkle of kosher salt and mix together. Dredge each soft shell crab in the flour on both sides. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add crabs to the skillet and sauté until they have started to brown. Flip and repeat on the opposite side. Be careful when sautéing soft shell crabs in case there is any liquid that is released from the claws. The water may pop when it comes in contact with the oil. While soft shell is cooking combine the honey and chili paste in a small bowl. Once both sides of soft shell crab have browned add the chili honey mixture to skillet and quickly sauté both sides of soft shell crab until mixture sticks to the crab. Remove crab from heat and drizzle any remaining mixture from skillet over the crab. Top with green onions and serve.
Suggested Beverage
A Japanese plum wine is fantastic! Or try Sake, an Asian beer, such as, Tsingtao or Asahi or for wine lovers try Root:1™ The Original Ungrafted Sauvignon Blanc (Casablanca Valley, Chili) or Souverain Sauvignon Blanc (Alexander Valley, California).
Chatty Advice
To get you started purchase them the day you are going to make them. When buying the soft shell crab, have your fish department do the initial cleaning, which will take the soft shell crab from alive to cleaned and ready for cooking. Many people cook them at that point, but I recommend cleaning them one more time. This requires just a few minutes of running them under water and removing a few things that may not be appetizing. Remove the top soft shell from the crab body. It is like a flap that would be the top cover of the crab when hard. Then remove all of the yellow pouches inside the crab and rinse under cold water until all cleaned. At this point you are left with all of the crab body and legs. After rinsing let them drain and move onto cooking them.
Leave a Reply