Frozen Soft Shell Crab

[Paul Bacino]

I tried like heck last yr to find some live soft shells, but had no luck. I had some company coming over and a store from the coast said they were not available ( but had promised live earlier in the week ) and I should try this the fresh frozen stuff. Now I have had soft shell sandwiches in off seasons that tasted pretty good. So i thought i would try them, well I didn't have any luck.. when I un-thawed them. they were soggy and a bit fishy.. so I soaked them in some milk. What ever I did , they never did get crispy. I might not have dried them well, possibly? But how do you cook these things? I'm stuck with 6 that I vacuumed sealed last yr and they don't look bad.

I thought about a soup, but I like the crunchy ness if possible. I know I prefer to get the live, but here ( omaha ) I only had the chance once to get live ones. Thoughts? Ideas?

[weinoo]

I think it might be best to fry them while still frozen, no?

[Paul Bacino]

I never tried that before, Weinoo. Possible ? Thanks for the chime in.

Best Paul

Edited April 8, 2011 by Paul Bacino (log)

[HungryC]

Wow--a year in the freezer is a long, long time for a softshell. I've had excellent frozen softshells, but they weren't more than 3-4 mos. frozen. I always defrost completely, then clean & dry thoroughly. A soggy crab won't crisp up....I've taken to grilling them, basted liberally w/butter. But the crispiest crab is deep-fried...damn, now I want a soft-shelled crab poboy. Guess I know what I'm having for lunch...the water temps are up, so the seafood processors are buying 'redline' crabs to put into their shedding tanks 'round here.

[lstrelau]

How much cleaning of frozen ( or fresh for that matter) is required? Just removing the gills (dead mans fingers) or us there more you need to remove?

[KennethT]

I would be a little hesitant to throw a whole frozen crab into the deep fryer... I'd imagine it would thoroughly redecorate the kitchen, as well as possibly burn the crap out of you as the melting water explodes out of the oil. I'd try completely defrosting, then dry as much as possible with paper towels... dust with wondra flour or cornstarch and deep fry.... I'd be curious how it turns out - please post the results!

[Paul Bacino]

I took three out. washed and am drying them out. As far as 1 yr goes, I had a tight VP-210 seal on them..But.. Im getting the itch again and looking to source some live ones soon, but I hate to waste food so I'm hoping I can salvage these. If not ah Pitch-a-lino them

Cheers will let u know how it goes

Paul

[HungryC]

How much cleaning of frozen ( or fresh for that matter) is required? Just removing the gills (dead mans fingers) or us there more you need to remove?

The back flap on the underside is cut off, the sides of the upper shell are lifted to remove the gills, and I cut off the "face" (a triangular section of the front containing the eyes & tougher mouth parts) with kitchen shears. Some folks pull out the gastric sac, as it can contain sand. But I don't usually bother with this, as most of the crabs I buy are held in tanks prior to shedding for at least several days (sometimes as much as 10 days), so they've been fasting & in cleanish water. Others will tell you to scrape out any fat (yellowish stuff), but I think it is delicious. Chacun a son gout.

Agree about not attempting to fry (or otherwise cook) a frozen crab. Those suckers are mostly water, and I can't see how adding a frozen lump to a pan or deep fryer will yield anything other than a watery on the inside, burned on the outside mess. For deep frying, I definitely want a little cornmeal or cream meal (almost the texture of cornflour) in my coating. Try frying a strip of bacon in the grease before frying the crab....mmm-hmm.

[lstrelau]

Thanks for the confirmation of the cleaning method - pretty much what I figured (and did). I just thawed them completely, cleaned them and drained them between paper towels for a while. One time I just fried them in hot butter & oil til crispy, the next time I used egg dip and bread crumbs and that was better. The outsides got crispy and insides stayed moist. Bacon fat would have been a great addition (everything tastes better with bacon! Not as good of course as fresh crab but have never seen fresh ones (that I would trust) in my landlocked city!

[budrichard]

The only good softshell is a live softshell as you found out.

The internals are very prone to decomposition like a Maine lobster which are not allowed to sold frozen in Maine, at least when I spent summers there.

Even supposedly 'live' softshells if they do not exhibit some movement should be avoided.

I avoid frozen softshells at all costs and inspect(smell) each one i purchase and confirm some movement.-Dick

[Paul Bacino]

The only good softshell is a live softshell as you found out.

The internals are very prone to decomposition like a Maine lobster which are not allowed to sold frozen in Maine, at least when I spent summers there.

Even supposedly 'live' softshells if they do not exhibit some movement should be avoided.

I avoid frozen softshells at all costs and inspect(smell) each one i purchase and confirm some movement.-Dick

Dick,

Yeah.. these things are sick!! Mushy and they dont smell good at all. But its the exact way they came to me, I should have sent them back.

I just hope I can get some decent live ones this yr.

Paul