Soft Shell Crabs

We invited our neighbor Bill over for dinner last night. We were looking forward to catching up, and hearing about his recent travels. The menu? Soft shell crabs and sweet corn. It’s summer and we are on the Eastern Shore of Mary’s Land. What could be more perfect for July?

The recipe is from our neighbor on Tilghman, Captain Stanley, who was a skipjack captain. If a skipjack captain gives you a seafood recipe, you damned well better pay attention and write it down. Captain Stanley is in his 80s. He’s spent the better part of his life as a waterman on the Bay, crabbing, and oystering. The recipe is totally minimalist, but that makes perfect sense. As Captain Stanley says, “why add anything else and take away from the flavor?” He worked on the Bay for over 60 years and knows a thing or two about crabs. I’m going to listen.

Cathy added to the meal by sautéing the sweet corn in butter and olive oil with some onion and jalapeño. The final dish? A spread of arugula topped with the sweet corn sauté. Put the soft shells on the top of the corn, with a bit of tarter sauce on the side. We served them with a Pinot, but beer would also go with the dish pretty well.

Captain Stanley’s Soft Shell Crabs:

Cleaning the soft shells:

1. Cut off face

2. Take off apron (male or female) (and any inner extension that comes with it).

3. Turn over. Lift top edge and scrape out the “dead men” on each side (the lungs). Put edge back down

4. If female, flip back over. Make slits on the two sides of the crab and take out the two white, dime sized objects (the ovaries). Some people (including me) leave the ovaries in.

To cook:

1. After cleaning, salt and pepper them.

2. Sauté in butter (use ghee or clarified butter if you can; if not, combination of oil and butter) about 3, 3 1/2 min per side.

3. Pull off and eat.

4. Have a little tartar sauce if you want.

Addendum:

I borrowed the phrase “Mary’s Land” from Mary Chapin Carpenter, who wrote a song about Maryland with that same title. It’s a great tribute to the state of Maryland.

If you want to learn more about Captain Stanley, or watermen in general, I highly recommend the Book Skipjack by Christopher White. It’s a wonderful book about a lifestyle that is slowly dying away here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.