Clay's Kitchen : Crab Recipes

Crab Recipes

Crispy Soft-Shell Crabs

Recipe from: Sheila Lukins
Servings: 4

Soak the crabs in milk before cooking. The milk plumps them up and, I find, turns out a crispier sautéed crab.

4 soft-shell crabs, cleaned (see below)
1 cup milk
¾ cup all-purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cup salted butter
4 soft brioche or sesame buns, split and lightly toasted
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
your favorite cole slaw, optionally

Soak the crabs in milk for 30 minutes. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, ginger, paprika and garlic powder in a bag. Dredge crabs in the mixture.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the crabs until golden-brown, about 5 minutes per side. Spread buns with mayonnaise and top each with a crab. Dollop with cole slaw, if desired. Serve immediately.

To clean soft-shell crabs:
Using sissors, snip off the eyes, mouth, and gills on both sides of the shell.
Turn the crab over and remove the small flap known as the apron. Rinse the crab well and pat dry.
Proceed with a recipe or store immediately.
Sautéed soft-shells are classic. You can grill them too. Try this:
For every 4 soft-shell crabs, mix 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Add the crabs and let marinade in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Starting top side down, cook the crabs on a well-oiled grill over medium heat, 3 inches from the heat source, for 3 minutes. Turn crabs and grill 2 to 3 minutes more. Enjoy!

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