THE BEST CRABS OF THE SEASON

TODAY’S LESSON: The warming waters of Summer convince the crab population to shed its Winter armor and become briefly what we know as soft shells. This is the special time that you can easily enjoy the entire crab without the tough shell interfering. Today we will explore the tricks to a special crunchy Japanese tempura style coating with these delicacies of the deep.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A SOFT SHELL CRAB? After the cold winter as the water begins to warm, the Blue crab emerges from the mud and becomes active again. They start to molt, which is the shedding their skin to allow for their body to grow. Once they have molted, their skin is soft almost like a wonton wrapper in consistency, but quickly hardens on contact with the salt water of the ocean. The soft skin turns leather-like in 12 hours and back into its hard shell quality within a day or so. This molting process continues during the year usually a half dozen times or more.

SO HOW DO THEY CATCH THEM AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME? The trick to commercial fishing of soft shells is not to catch them at the right time because in nature the molted soft shell hides in tall underwater grasses once it has lost its armor. Fishermen catch the hard shell crabs and hold them in tanks of bay water until they molt. They are then removed with a small net as this process occurs. They are transferred to wet straw-lined boxes to be kept moist and cool during shipping to your table.

WHERE DO THEY COME FROM: Soft shells are harvested from Maryland south through Florida and even in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mid-Atlantic area is considered the best because of the habitat, lots of shallow muddy inlets of brackish waters that are perfect for the crabs to winter in.

PREPARING YOUR SOFTSHELLS: The easiest way to prepare your softshells is to have your great fishmarket clean them for you as you wait, making sure they were very fresh when you selected them.To clean them yourself, fold back the flaps and remove the gills, the cottony fibers on the sides. Cut the side aprons and head off with a pair of scissors. Pull the pointed flap on the underside down and twist off. If you don’t prefer the taste of the tomalley, some like it some don’t, gently squeeze the crab to remove.

COATING WITH CARBS? Usually sauteed or fried soft shells are loaded with carbohydrates from a flour or breadcrumb crust, but we can use Buckwheat flour make a the crispy Tempura crust with lower carbs. Buckwheat is not actually a member of the wheat-grass family but a relative of rhubarb.

TRY YOUR TECHNIQUE: Try these simple and crunchy Ginger Tempura Crusted Soft Shell Crabs.

 

GINGER TEMPURA CRUSTED SOFT SHELL CRABS

Makes 4 appetizer servings of about 15 grams carbohydrates each
& 25 grams of protein each
Prep Time 15 minutes – Cook Time 15 minutes
Carotino or Canola oil to fry in
1 recipe for Buckwheat Tempura Mix (C=84g / Net Carbs are about 2/3rds of the batter actually attaches to the food C=52g)
3 tablespoons minced ginger root (C=3g)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (C=1g)
few red pepper flakes to your taste (C=.2g)
Sea salt (C=0g)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (C=0g)
1 tablespoon Splenda (C=0g)
2 tablespoons low sodium natural soy sauce (C=2g)
1 tablespoon Chile-Garlic paste (C=2g)
Available in the Asian section of the market
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil (C=0g)
1 bunch fresh Cilantro leaves, half picked & half chopped (C=3g)
4 large soft shell crabs, cleaned (C=0g)(P=100g)
In a medium bowl, combine the Tempura mix, 2 tablespoons of the ginger and all of the garlic. Season
generously with red pepper flakes and salt. Reserve.

In a small bowl make the dipping sauce by combining the vinegar, Splenda, soy sauce, remaining ginger, Chile-Garlic sauce and sesame oil. Add the chopped cilantro. Adjust seasonings to your taste with salt.

In a large deep skillet, fill and heat the oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches but not more than half the depth of the pan. Heat the oil, over medium high heat to 350 degrees as indicated by a cooking thermometer. Working very quickly, dredge the crabs through the tempura batter, shaking off the excess. Lower the crabs into the skillet, top side down. Cook until golden about 4 minutes. Turn over and finish cooking about 2 to 3 more minutes. Transfer to paper toweling to drain. Season with sea salt.

To Serve: Position the crabs in the center of the warm serving plates. Drizzle a the sauce over the crabs,
sprinkle with the cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

BUCKWHEAT TEMPURA MIX
Makes 2 cups of 124 grams carbohydrates
Prep Time 5 minutes
1 large egg white (C=.3)
1-3/4 cups sparkling almost frozen ice water (C=0g)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (C=0g)
1 cups sifted buckwheat flour (C=84g)
In a medium bowl combine the egg white, ice water and soda. Whisk the flour in very slowly to avoid lumps. Adjust the batter to be light sauce consistency just to coat the food.
COOKING NOTE I: (C=0g) & (P=0g)indicates the total carbohydrates and total protein in grams for the ingredient listed, so that you may see where the carbohydrates in the dish are contributed from.
© Jimmy Schmidt