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