SOFT SHELL CRAB

Soft shell crab is a culinary term for crabs that have recently molted their old exoskeleton and are still soft. Soft-shells are removed from the water as soon as they molt to prevent any hardening of their shell. This means that almost the entire animal can be eaten, rather than having to shell the animal to reach the meat. The exceptions are the mouthparts, the gills and the abdomen, which, though edible when shells are very soft, are sometimes discarded ("cleaned").The remaining, edible part of the Soft-shell crab is typically deep fried or sautéed.

In the Viet Nam, the main species of Soft-shell crab is the "mud crab”. Soft shell crab appears in markets year round. Crabbers still do as waiting to catch peelers in their regular crab pots

A single soft shell crab provides several essential vitamins, including vitamins B6, B12, E and K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folate. Dietary minerals, including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc and potassium, are also available in the serving

You could try incorporating soft shell crab into our recently suggested crab-stuffed bell pepper recipe or you could pick a mouth-watering recipe from the list below:

Maryland-style waffles by Wild Greens & Sardines

Soft shell crab pasta dish by Wishful Chef

Curry butter soft shell crab recipe by New York Times Cooking

Soft-shell crab, sometimes abbreviated to just soft-shell, is a seafood delicacy with the entire crustacean capable of being eaten, a result of catching and cooking crabs shortly after they molt their hard shell. The Chesapeake Bay, shared by Maryland and Virginia, is famous for its soft-shell blue crabs.

While all crabs shed their shells to grow, only a few species of crab can actually be eaten in this form. 

Demand for this delicacy has increased with the use in Japanese and other cuisines, so that the mangrove crab has been used as an alternative source from Asia. Because mangrove crabs grow in tropical muddy flats all year round, such swamps provide a continual source of soft-shell crabs. In warmer waters such as the Gulf of Mexico, soft-shell crabs are available for longer periods. The crabs continue to molt throughout the year, but in smaller numbers, sometimes making it unprofitable to fishermen to maintain traps through those periods.

If a waterman catches a crab nearing the end of its molting cycle (rank peeler or red sign), he will place it in a special holding pin where it remains until it molts. Serious soft-crabbers will build tanks up on a pier or on the shore… These shedding tanks may be either open system (circulating sea water) or closed system (like a fish aquarium).

Immediately following molt, the crab’s shell begins to ossify, or harden. It is crucial that the crab be removed from the water as soon as possible to help stop this process. Usually soft-shell crabs must be eaten within four days of molting to be useful as soft-shell crabs. They begin to rebuild their shells after that, and when eaten, have a thin shell developing. They are referred to as “papershells” and are more crunchy when eaten, making them less desirable to many people. Because of this, the floats (or tanks) must be checked routinely every three or four hours, 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

Culinary: When possible crabs should be kept alive until immediately before cooking… Dressed or whole freshly dead soft-shell crabs have a shelf life of 4–5 days with proper refrigeration… This may actually be the optimal way to prevent further ossification (hardening) of the shell. To check freshness of a whole dead soft-shell crab… simply pull back the top corner of the shell and smell the gills for freshness.

Soft-shell crab is a culinary term for crabs that have recently molted their old exoskeleton and are still soft. Soft-shells are removed from the water as soon as they molt to prevent any hardening of their shell.

The exceptions are the mouth parts, the gills and the abdominal cover. The remaining, edible part of the crab is typically deep fried for crab roll sushi or hand roll sushi.

Soft-shells are split up into 5 basic sizes; whales, jumbos, primes, hotels and mediums. A sizing and weight chart is provided as follows;

Whales: over 5 ½ inches; 5.9 oz avg wt; 2 dz per tray; 6 dz per cs

Jumbos: 5 – 5 ½ inches; 4.5 oz avg wt; 3 dz per tray; 9 dz per cs

Primes: 4 ½ – 5 inches; 3.3 oz avg wt; 4 dz per tray; 12 dz per cs

Hotels: 4 – 4 ½ inches; 2.5 oz avg wt; 5 dz per tray; 15 dz per cs

Mediums: 3 ½ – 4 inches; 1.8 oz avg wt; 6 dz per tray; 18 dz per cs