Deep South meets Singapore in this dish, which I cooked for Anna in her kitchen the other day, when I was still too depressed to use my own in the middle of a building site. I'm sure soft shell crabs are a treat outside the Southern States too, but Louisiana and Mississippi are where I had my first taste of them, on the trip Anna and I made along the Gulf of Mexico a year ago. For me they will always be part of fond memories from that coast.
Black pepper crab and chilli crab, on the other hand, are something I have learned to enjoy in South East Asia, particularly in Singapore and Hong Kong. There are other variations too, but I don't really know their names, as my hosts simply called them "spicy crab". One of these I had in Hong Kong, and it had huge crabs cut into pieces on a bed of small whole chillies, which were mild enough to be eaten in heaps. I think the chillies were coated with a batter of some sort. If you have a clue what this dish was, please leave a comment. I'd love to try to make it myself.
I have always enjoyed these Asian crab dishes a lot, but I have also found it a bit of a chore to pick the crab meat out of the crushed shells and claws at the table. I had had my first spicy crabs long before Anna introduced me to the world of soft shells. The ones I ate with her in Mississippi were deep-fried in batter and had little left of an ordinary crab in either taste or texture. I definitely didn't hate them, though, and I rather fancied the idea of chomping down whole crabs, shells, legs, claws and all.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have never had soft shell crabs or even heard of them. I certainly hadn't before I saw two of them sitting on a plate in front of me in a restaurant. So let me give a quick introduction. Soft shell crabs are blue crabs (in the USA) or mangrove crabs (in Asia) that have just moulted. A crab's shell cannot expand as the crab grows, so every now and then the crab sheds it, and for a matter of hours it has only a soft covering. That is when it is vulnerable and considered usable. Usually the crabs have to be caught and killed within four hours of moulting. The result is a delicacy that can literally be eaten whole, even though it looks exactly like its hard-shelled fellow creatures. I can promise you that the first time you put a whole claw in your mouth feels really weird.
Anyhow, since soft shell crabs can be eaten whole with nothing left over, I thought they would make perfect spicy crabs. A couple of months ago I was strolling through the aisles of an Asian grocery store in Sydney and saw a rack of Singaporean spice mixes for chilli crab and black pepper crab. I bought one packet of Seah's Black Pepper Crab Spices and brought it back to Finland with me. (You can also make the spice mix from scratch.)
Unfortunately soft shell crabs are really difficult to come by in Finland, and I had to wait almost three months before a new batch turned up in one of the Asian shops I frequent in Helsinki. Before cooking they also have to be cleaned with scissors. I finally had everything I needed for my black pepper soft shell crab experiment, and Anna even happened to be visiting from New York, so I knew my time had come.
Recipe card
Black Pepper Soft Shell Crabs
- Serves 2
- Steaming 5-10 min
You will need
| 4 | soft shell crabs |
| 1-2 tbsp | olive oil |
| black pepper crab spice mix (or a spice mix made from scratch) | |
| fresh parsley for garnish | |
| rice |
Method
- Clean the soft shell crabs: remove the mouth and eyes with scissors, lift the shell from both sides and remove the gills, and cut away the apron (tail).
- Steam the crabs in a bamboo steamer for 5-10 minutes, until they are cooked and the shells have turned red(dish). Discard the extra juices.
- Heat the oil in a wok and add the spice mix. Stir for a minute or two until fragrant, but be careful not to burn the spices.
- Lower the temperature and add the crabs. Mix and turn them carefully for a little while, until they are evenly coated with pepper and warm again.
- Serve immediately on a bed of rice.
16 comments
Ooohhh, yummy ... wipe drool.
The first time I ate soft shell crabs was in a Japanese restaurant in Singapore. It was so good I was an immediate fan. Yours looks really delish!
Hehe, thanks MM =) I was kinda counting on you though to give a hint re: the HK spicy crabs recipe... And sorry to hear about the stalker... hope you got it sorted out w/o starting a revolution or something 😉
If you ever get to Baltimore, go to Bertha's (a local legend) and order a stack of Maryland Blue's, either soft shell or the crab cakes. 🙂 I prefer the crab cakes as there's something about eating a critter whole that sorta squicks me.
Hei veli
Kiitos vielä crabeista - en ollenkaan tajunnut että niitten pehmeäkuorisuus on niin harvinainen olotila - ja aivan erityisesti jo legendaksi muodostuneesta sushifestista... Me paistettiin ne jämätonnikalapihvit eilen parillapannulla portugalilaiseen tapaan keitinperunoitten seuraksi ja ne oli yummyja, mutta kerro milloin voin ostaa sulle uuden pihvin sashimiksi?
BTW, tiedätkö saako Suomessa myydä lampaan tai vasikan aivoja? Löysin tosi herkullisen aivoreseptin jota tekisi mielettömästi mieli kokeilla. Ja jos haluat häränhäntämuhennosta, tuu käymään to-iltana.
ZZ
Hmmm, HK spicy crabs ... without seeing the picture it is hard for me to tell. Were the chillies dried or fresh chillies?
And re stalker .. shhhh, mebbe if we pretend he does not exist, he will go away.
Heippa Antti - is it a payback time for my laskiaispulla-post or what?? First baby octopus, now crab. Oh well, who said life is always easy...
I'll be patient and wait. Just wait... P:)
Hi hbf / Aevil, thanks for the tip! I love Baltimore (they have truly amazing Afghan restaurants, too) and might spend some time there this spring. I'm visiting Helsinki right now but haven't managed to bump into you at the Alepa/Spar/Sesto of Lönnrotinkatu yet...
This is truly exotic! Never heard of soft shell crabs before.
hi antti, black pepper crabs look amazing - as good as any to be found in singapore's seafood joints along east coast. were you living in singapore for a while? - it takes an "honorary local" to know as much about our food as you do! cheers,j
J, Thanks for visiting! I've only visited Singapore twice very briefly, but I've had the honor to work with Singaporeans in other Asian countries too, so something must have rubbed off on me =)
I really, really must try your crisp duck confit recipe! I simply can't get it out of my mind...
MM, the more I think the less I remember of the spicy crab dish. But it MAY have been similar to the one in this picture: http://flickr.com/photos/osakajon/83588425/
I.e. perhaps the crab was sitting on a pile of hot "crumbs" instead of whole chillies, as I remember eating those crumbs even after the crab meat was finished. In any case, the bed the crab was sitting on was dry.
Cripes! I am not familiar with that dish - would be except for the addition of the coconut flakes. I've had another crab dish which is with ground buttery oats fried with Sichuan dried chilli flakes.
Oh, heads up ... I cannot post it on my blog until May/June but I am tasting 4 different crab dishes this coming Thursday, all with a modern Indochina twist. And I might be able to get one of the recipes for my blog. So fingers crossed.
Maybe I can ask the chef is he know something about your crab dish in Hong Kong.
Thanks MM, I'll be waiting 🙂 I don't remember any coconut flakes in the dish, but your description sounds pretty close... Does that particular dish have a specific name?
Mean ole marketing guy was with us during the tasting and would not let the chef give me any recipes! I hate marketing people ... so speaketh the ex-marketing person.
OK, the butter oats crab I had today was not veyr spicey at all but the chef said you can crush dried Sichuan chillies and add to the mix to give it the spice. Butter oats is usually just oats fried in butter, he said. I noticed he added some crushed fried basil to the oats. Gave it a nice Indochinese spiciness.
Sorry, I wish I was more help.
Please let me know how to clean soft shell crabs
best regards
Paul
Hi Paul, there's a good tutorial about soft shell crab leaning at http://tinyurl.com/ot4ld
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Antti