Crunchy Soft-Shell Crabs
Updated May 1, 2024
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 2 to 3 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 6soft-shell crabs, cleaned
- Buttermilk, for soaking
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 1cup fine cornmeal
- 1cup flour
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Lemon wedges, for serving optional
Preparation
- Step 1
Soak crabs in a bowl of buttermilk.
- Step 2
In a deep fryer or saucepan, heat 4 inches of oil to 375 degrees.
- Step 3
Whisk together cornmeal and flour, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 4
Remove crabs from buttermilk, letting excess drip back into bowl. Coat crabs evenly in the cornmeal mixture. Working in batches, fry until golden brown and crisp all over, turning if needed, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. While warm, season with salt. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
- Variations: Use for oysters, small whole fish like whitebait or sliced okra.
Private Notes
Comments
This is a fine recipe. But I grew up near the Chesapeake Bay and I still prefer softshells sauteed, not deep fried. It's easie,r for one, and even with a simple saute you can get a nice crunch.
This is a perfect way to prep the soft shelled crabs, but I prefer to pan-fry them in 1/4 inch of clarified butter instead of deep frying. Delicious!
I also only sautéed the crabs and they were delicious. I added a little spicy paprika to the buttermilk and is was great. Served atop baby arugula salad dressed with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Side of wild rice pilaf! Voila. Dinner.
Deep frying softshells like this can be extremely dangerous as they are wet inside. Dry them very well and coat them well, don’t use as much oil and definitely stand back. Control your temperature or you can have oil explode up to the ceiling (I know from personal experience). Do what other commenters have done and just sauté them…or fry with caution.
Sooo good! Ridiculously crispy with the cornmeal! I added a few dashes of Tabasco to the buttermilk (from Pierre Franey, the NYT “60 Minute Gourmet“). Then dipped in stone-ground corn meal. For time management, I let the crabs sit on a rack over baking sheet for about 30 minutes while I prepped the rest of dinner. In a small pan, i melted 2 Tbsp butter, then added 2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice to make a sauce. Then, like others, I chose to sauté the crabs: covered bottom of my medium-hot frying pan with olive oil, let the oil heat a few moments, then added crabs, shielded with splatter screen. I cooked about 3 minutes. My pan easily accommodated the four crabs i had. After first three minutes, i flipped, and cooked another 3 or so minutes. Served over fresh spinach with hearty scoops of steamed brown rice, and drizzled the crabs with the lemon butter sauce. RIDICULOUSLY crispy and delicious! Makes me sad crab season is so short!
Wow!!! Melissa Clark does it again !!!! Delicious with the cornmeal.