Soft-Shell Crabs and Eggs

By corlear

Chefs Note: Our soft-shell crabs have to pass the “tickle” test. if they’re not lively, we don’t want them. Soft-shell crabs are specialties in spring and fall, when blue crabs molt, shedding their hard outer shell, before growing another. At the restaurant, we offer fried soft-shell crabs with Choron Sauce as a luncheon or dinner entrée.

Chef’s Tip: Have the seafood market clean soft-shell crabs when purchasing, or to clean the crabs yourself, lift each side of the shell and gently remove gills at the base of the crab. Pull off the tail at the base - wide tails are girls, skinny tails are boys. Remove the face - the eyes and little area around the mouth. Since fresh soft-shells aren’t always available, you can purchase them frozen.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Choron Sauce (see recipe)
• 6 Poached Eggs (see recipe)
• 6 tablespoons jumbo lump crabmeat, cleaned and picked over
• Creole Seafood Seasoning (see recipe) as needed
• 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon Creole mustard
• 6 cups vegetable oil
• 6 soft-shell crabs, cleaned
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups bread crumbs

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare Choron Sauce; reserve until needed.

Prepare Poached Eggs; reserve.

Combine crabmeat, 1/4 teaspoon seafood seasoning, mayonnaise and mustard in a small bowl. Gently stuff tail end of crab cavities with crabmeat mixture.

Heat oil to 325 degrees in deep fryer.

Season crabs with 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning. Dredge in flour. Combine eggs and milk in a small bowl; dip crabs into egg wash. Dredge crabs in bread crumbs.
Fry crabs until crisp and drain on a paper towel.

Reheat reserved Poached Eggs.

To serve, place a crab in center of each plate and top with an egg. Ladle reserved Choron Sauce over all.