Bought a pack of frozen soft shell crabs from Wing Yip in Cricklewood the other day. (Can’t get em fresh in the UK.) Deep fried, with a dressing of lemon juice, chilli and mint—just fantastic, and only a few minutes’ work. Truly, this is a great food.
That thing is basically a giant cockroach to me.
i can’t think of a way i wouldn’t enjoy these. two that spring to mind = the recipe involving garlic and spring onions at gourmet san in bethnal green, and the super-fresh kamchatka crab & mango salad i had in st petersburg recently.
frozen soft shell crabs from Wing Yip in Cricklewood reads like jabberwocky
i feel ridiculously happy that i have eaten one of those in my life
That would be a very big soft shell crab, Lex.
I may try a tempura batter for the remaining crabs.
Can I get these in chinese supermarket in chinatown I wonder. Cricklewood is so far away.
Surely you can make yr own tempura with little hassle tho.
& if you’re out of hassle you can just use flour
man I used to have to clean these things when I worked the seafood counter at a gourmet grocery store
I take it that was an unpleasant job.
xpost I bet some of the Gerrard St places have soft shell crab. Loon Fung probably.
actually it was ok; I have had worse
lightly fried—and served in a bun w/typical burger toppings
yeah tempura or in sushi rolls
Sauteed with ramps, and served with spring peas (unhulled), morels, and sauvignon blanc or equivalent.
Runner-up: meuniere, with crawfish etouffee and a Sazerac.
being eaten by some other poor unfortunate soul
salt & pepper
with

soft shell crab handroll with a squirt of kewpie mayo on top.
i had never heard of these cuz i dont generally f/w crustaceans, can you basically eat the whole crab apart from the toxic innards?
you eat the whole crab incl. innards
oooooh
i kinda imagine they taste nice even tho i hate the look of crabs and dont like lobster that much
I had some tempura once, with ponzu, and liked the taste enough but the texture and knowledge that I was eating “everything” was off-putting, so I have no inclination to try them again.
I think they pull off the face and gills, but otherwise