I am gratefully back in the kitchen again creating more simple seasonal meals. Today I am sharing my super simple version of soft shell crabs.
But first, I have a true confession. I was afraid to invest in soft shell crabs because I had this story in my head that they must be hard to make. I didn’t want to waste my time and money on a failure. On a recent shopping trip, my husband (an enjoyable outing for us, now that the kids are grown) spotted fresh soft shell crabs and suggested we bring some home.
Yikes! I thought, they must be hard to make, because I have only seen them in nice restaurants. However, I am a little overconfident and maybe even cocky in the kitchen, probably due to my Italian heritage.
Sooooo I agreed to bring them home. I covertly whispered to the fishmonger to tell me the secret to cooking them. To my surprise, he said all they need is a flour dredge and to be sautéed in a pan. Ok, I thought, this can’t be any harder than making chicken french, which is oddly popular in Italian restaurants around here.
Simple Soft Shell Crabs
Ingredients:
- 8 fresh soft shell crabs
- 1 cup of fine flour for dredging, preferably with salt and pepper, ( If not, generously add fresh ground salt and pepper)
- 2 eggs
- Olive oil
- 1-2 Tbsp. Truffle butter or grass-fed butter
Equipment:
- 3 paper lunch bags (the old-fashioned brown variety)
- Shallow bowl for an egg bath
- Tongs
- Heavy bottomed large skillet (I prefer cast iron)
- food thermometer
Directions:
- Set up:
- Heat a skillet over medium heat, and add a swirl of oil enough to coat the bottom. Add the butter.
- Cut two of the bags open so that they lay flat, and set aside. Fill the last bag with the flour (and salt and pepper)
- Mix the eggs in the shallow bowl
- Set up an assembly line near the stove: flour bag, eggs, flat bags for draining the cooked crabs.
- Prepare and cook:
- Using tongs, drop a crab in the flour bag, shake it lightly, then dip it the egg bath, and return it to the bag for another flour shake.
- Add the crab to the pan on medium heat.
- Repeat until the pan is full
- Use a thermometer to check for doneness. Crabs are done at 130 degrees, according to my fish guy. Ps- They cook fast.
- Remove crab with tongs and lay on paper bags to drain
- Repeat for remaining crabs, adding in more oil & butter if needed.
That’s it!
We enjoyed them on top of our Lazy Caesar Salad with a side of corn on the cob for a simple summer supper.
No more waiting to go out for soft shell crab. This was so easy, and throwing out the paper bags made for an easy cleanup!
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