I’ve never had soft shell crab and the teeter here in Charlotte has them on sale. Can someone give me some advice on how to cook them? Do you eat the whole thing or just the meat?
Eat’em whole. They should have the face/gills cleaned out.
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations,neither are you here to live up to mine” Peter Tosh - I Am That I Am
If they are not clean, clean them by taking the top shell off, guts, gills(dead mans meat), dip in egg wash and fry in flour bread crumb mixture with olive oil butter mixture till golden brown. Eat plain or with your favorite seafood sauce, I usually eat as a sandwich with tarter sauce.
Don’t need to take the top shell off. Just lift up the tips of the top shell and remove the gills(dead mans fingers). You will also want to cut off the eyes and mouth. This is done with a pair of scissors. Cut a small arc just behind the eyes of the crab, and you are ready to cook it.
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Don’t forget to remove the apron as well. Tons of videos online that show you the process.
One more question. Has anyone ever vacuumed packed fresh crabs to be cooked at a later date?
I have seen frozen soft shells for sale but most people clean and cook them and then freeze them if saving. It is no different then steaming them like crabs you get at the store. But if you want to freeze fresh clean them thoroughly before freezing and you should be fine, I’ve seen it done this way with other crabs and lobster tails, But I have never seen a whole crab froze fresh for resale so there is likely a reason for that.
Freezing fresh, whole is commonplace.