Cleaning Soft-Shell Crabs

Soft-shell crabs are just another reason to love spring and summer.  For one who loves crab but hates dealing with the messy job of picking meat out of a hard shell, these crustaceans in their soft state are perfect to eat, as they are entirely edible. They may prove an acquired taste for some, as eating their paper-like shells may seem bizarre at first.  I love them, I can eat them with pretty much any type of vegetable, starch or grain, and some crab-friendly fruits, e.g. pickled watermelon à la Nobu 57 (amazing).  I must say however, my favorite dish will always be a soft-shell crab po’ boy slathered with a killer remoulade.

In the United States, the soft-shell crabs one sees are common blue crabs, which dwell in the western Atlantic Ocean down to the Gulf of Mexico.  Between April and the end of summer, these crabs moult, or shed their hard shells, so that they can grow larger.  In order to ensure that soft-shell crabs are placed on the market, the animals are harvested by fishermen around their scheduled moulting times, and placed into tanks where they are monitored closely.  Once the crabs have shed their hard shells, they need to be removed from the tank immediately as they will begin to harden after a few mere hours while still in water.  Sizes can vary, I’ve seen them range from 3-5 inches straight across the back measuring from the pointy ends.

As with any other crustacean, soft-shell crabs are best bought live. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any luck seeing them live outside of professional kitchens.  But they can be bought very fresh, which is fine (buying them dead also removes the brutality factor when cleaning them). When buying soft-shell crabs, use common sense as with all seafood.  Go to a reliable seafood seller, check out the quality of all the fish in general, look at how the fish are stored on the display, ask questions, and always trust your nose:  if they smell bad, (like ammonia) then they most definitely are. 

Cleaning soft-shell crabs is very easy once you get past the psychological creepiness of it.  Afterall, you are cutting its face off along with some other parts.  Just treat the animal with respect, even if its already dead.  If you feel uncomfortable doing it, have the dude at the seafood store clean them.  Either way, it never hurts to know how they should be cleaned, I just prefer to do it myself to ensure quality and freshness if the crabs happen to be alive.

Now, with a pair of scissors (and yes, I should be using kitchen shears, but I couldn’t find them, some professional I am!), a soft-shell crab can be cleaned in less than a minute:  First, trim off the face, without cutting too much out of the body.

Next, turn the crab over:

Lift up the “apron” of the crab:

Trim off the apron:

Place crap top side up again and pull a side of the shell up to expose a gill:

Remove the gill completely (the gills aren’t toxic, they just taste godawful):

Repeat this on the other side of the crab so that it is clean:

This next step is optional, I only do it if I feel the pointy ends of the crab are too sharp to eat:

That’s it.  At this point, some people like to soak the crabs in milk for a few hours before cooking.  The common belief is that milk draws out impurities, and will also get rid of any unwanted odor that the crab may have, although honestly, who wants to eat something that has an undesirable odor, especially with seafood or meat?  The only difference I’ve ever noticed with the milk-soaking process is that the crab tastes less salty, probably because any salinity leftover from ocean water has been drawn out through osmosis.  I only soak them in milk if they smell overly-briny, it really depends on the individual crabs.  Otherwise, without the milk step, the soft-shells can still taste great.*

The  most common cooking methods I’ve seen and used with soft-shells is pan-roasting and deep-frying.  When pan-roasting, one can lightly flour the crabs with Wondra to achieve a little more crispness (seasonings plus Wondra is even better!).  Just brown each side in a hot skillet with oil (caution, soft-shells tend to “pop” a little, spattering oil) and throw them in a 425˚F oven for about 4-5 minutes.  They cook very quickly.  To deep fry, treat them as you would any other fried item:  drench, dredge, fry.  I dusted the crabs I bought with a spicy flour mix, pan-roasted and served them with a simple tomato salad.  Easy and perfect.  (Unfortunately we ate them too fast to get a picture…)

Soft-shell crabs do tend to be on the pricier side, (I got mine at $3.99 apiece), but they are well worth it.  They taste amazing, and really, the preparation of them is nearly foolproof.

*  To read more about the wonders of milk, click here: White Asparagus and the Importance of Milk.

And thanks to my husband for taking the photos!

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