Soft-shell crab

[Lepus]

It's that time. These guys went from harvest to eaten in about twelve hours and they were the best I've ever had.

[wphill]

Cold smoked jumbos. My fav meal from a restaurant that no longer is.

[mauichef]

Yes indeed. They look so good.
What batter did you use?

[Lepus]

I did a tempura batter for these. This is from a 3:1 ratio of flour to corn starch for my dry and the traditional 1:1 ratio of dry to ice water. For each cup of the dry I added one egg to my liquid.

I have done both all flour and 3:1 corn starch to flour ratios before and they both work, so I figured I'd mess around with the ratio this time. I really liked my result. All flour tempura batter should not be heavily mixed to limit gluten formation lest the better end up tough. By spiking it with only a little corn starch I was able to get a more evenly mixed batter. The batter still had great coverage and some nice body. The color of the end result was good, too. I'll probably try 1:1 or 2:1 flour to corn starch next time, but I think 3:1 gave me a very traditional end result that was a little easier to work with.

I did only fry these to set the breading. They were finished in an oven.

[mauichef]

Mahalo mate!

[Carter]

Looks great...one of my favorites! Keep the oil hot....figure I can be there in 4hrs.

[Ourorboros]

Why are they finished in the oven?
Have you tried rice flour instead of having cornstarch? It still has proteins without gluten, though it will have a little flavor.

[Lepus]

Ovens are probably the most valuable cooking appliance in restaurant kitchen. They cook evenly, they return to temp quickly, they're really precise, and they can handle a lot of food at once. I'd guess sixty, seventy percent of the food you eat in a restaurant was finished in an oven.

In this instance I was able to fit four, maybe five crabs at a time in a full sized fryer. Once I had the breading set I was able to put them on sheet pans with roasting racks and finish thirty of them at the same time in an oven.

I haven't tried rice flour. I could be convinced to try it.

[timos]

wow...looks amazing! I ll have to try a whole soft shell crab some day. I have only had it in sushi rolls around here.

[Ut_ron]

Never tried soft shelled crab. But that looks delicious. Need to get out of land locked utah.

[wphill]

Da paws are where I start and then start stealing more paws from the unexpected. Lemon juice is good. Nothing more. But later i can't resist the cream caper sauce, and later just mayonnaise. Then more gluttony kicks in and it's a fatty body washed down with 1960 brewed Barq's. Please stop posting this thread, it is keeping me awake at night. Unfortunately, the last soft shell crab was a beautiful jumbo from christians restaurant that tried to reopen after going bankrupt...in Nola. As scrumptious as it looks, it tasted tainted. My wife thought that this was the way it should taste since this was her first and she wanted to be a good sport. Consumed enough to get quite sick. The newly reopened legendary institute didn't last much longer and that was all she wrote. Loose a chef, and it's never the same.

[CacahuateSommelier]

Want

[lsboogy]

Never tried soft shelled crab. But that looks delicious. Need to get out of land locked utah.

Look around you - I got live (flown in from Maryland) carbs when I lived in Montana - I made softshells on the grill at work earlier this summer - there should be a good fish monger in most places. I've had damn near the best crab cakes I've ever tasted at Alta (come close to Maryland - not quite though - but better than any I've had around Minneapolis). We have Costal seafood here, and they used to ship me stuff when I lived in Montana. Overnight was only 30 bucks back then - they came in a cooler packed with ice. No reason for anyone to live in a food desert anymore except cost, and softshells are only cheap if you know a good pier

[lsboogy]

Never tried soft shelled crab. But that looks delicious. Need to get out of land locked utah.

Look around you - I got live (flown in from Maryland) carbs when I lived in Montana - I made softshells on the grill at work earlier this summer - there should be a good fish monger in most places. I've had damn near the best crab cakes I've ever tasted at Alta (come close to Maryland - not quite though - but better than any I've had around Minneapolis). We have Costal seafood here, and they used to ship me stuff when I lived in Montana. Overnight was only 30 bucks back then - they came in a cooler packed with ice. No reason for anyone to live in a food desert anymore except cost, and softshells are only cheap if you know a good pier

bTW - those are some seriously good looking SSC's Lepus

[Ut_ron]

Never tried soft shelled crab. But that looks delicious. Need to get out of land locked utah.

Look around you - I got live (flown in from Maryland) carbs when I lived in Montana - I made softshells on the grill at work earlier this summer - there should be a good fish monger in most places. I've had damn near the best crab cakes I've ever tasted at Alta (come close to Maryland - not quite though - but better than any I've had around Minneapolis). We have Costal seafood here, and they used to ship me stuff when I lived in Montana. Overnight was only 30 bucks back then - they came in a cooler packed with ice. No reason for anyone to live in a food desert anymore except cost, and softshells are only cheap if you know a good pier

bTW - those are some seriously good looking SSC's Lepus

Will check it out. Thanks

[atang]

I know this is an old post, but you got me craving some crabs now
Try buckwheat flour. Good flavor/texture too

[KetchupKing]

I did a tempura batter for these. This is from a 3:1 ratio of flour to corn starch for my dry and the traditional 1:1 ratio of dry to ice water. For each cup of the dry I added one egg to my liquid.

I have done both all flour and 3:1 corn starch to flour ratios before and they both work, so I figured I'd mess around with the ratio this time. I really liked my result. All flour tempura batter should not be heavily mixed to limit gluten formation lest the better end up tough. By spiking it with only a little corn starch I was able to get a more evenly mixed batter. The batter still had great coverage and some nice body. The color of the end result was good, too. I'll probably try 1:1 or 2:1 flour to corn starch next time, but I think 3:1 gave me a very traditional end result that was a little easier to work with.

I did only fry these to set the breading. They were finished in an oven.

man that sounds so good. SSC season is always a good one. I will try this.