Today I’m going to show you how to grill soft shell crabs. A soft shell crab is a blue crab that has just shed its shell. At this point you can eat its shell and all. It is sweet and juicy and has a crispy crunch from the new shell. Usually people fry soft shell crabs in a pan, but we are going to be cooking them on the grill.
Soft shell crabs are really easy to grill; the only somewhat hard part is cleaning them. If possible you can have the folks at your local fish market clean them for you, but if that isn’t possible, I’ll tell you how to do it.
Live crabs are always best, but if that isn’t possible, fresh or frozen will work too. To clean your soft shell crabs you will need a pair of kitchen shears, I use these. They cut through everything from chicken to crabs. Using your kitchen shears cut the eyes and mouth off the front of the crab. If you were using live crabs, this will kill them instantly. You will want to do this over a bowl because it can be rather juicy.
Flip the crab on its back and pull off its apron. This is the tab you will see on the belly. Now flip the crabs back over so the back is up. Peel back the carapace on each side, but don’t pull it off. Underneath you will see the gills; they kind of look like feathers; scrape or pull them off with your knife or fingers. That is it. It isn’t that hard, but it is definitely easier to have the fish market do it.
In order to get a nice crispy shell on the crabs you are going to want to baste them really well. I like to use a garlic butter that I will have set up on the grill as well. Some people like to flour their soft shell crabs too before dipping in butter, you can try that too if you’d like.
Here is what you will need to grill up soft shell crabs:
8 large soft shell crabs, cleaned
1 stick of butter
1 garlic clove, minced
tartar sauce
tomato slices
lettuce leaves,
bread slices, buttered and grilled
As you can see I’ve got bread, lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce listed. Soft shell crabs are great to make into sandwiches, so that is what I’ll be doing.
Alright with your crabs all cleaned and prepped it is time to fire up the grill. Set up your gas or charcoal grill for direct grilling over high heat. I like to keep one area of the grill at about medium to heat the garlic butter and keep it warm for basting. If you are using a gas grill that has side burners you can use that too. I like cast iron so I use this one for basting the crabs. You are just going to need something that is wide enough to dip them in.
Combine the garlic and the butter into the pot and mix until melted. Once everything is ready using a pair of tongs dip each soft shell crab into the garlic butter, shake off the excess and place them on the grill. Grill for approximately 2 to 4 minutes per side, the shells will be a deep red when they are cooked.
Once done transfer them to a plate. Arrange them into sandwiches with some grilled bread, lettuce, tomatoes, and tartar sauce. That is how to grill soft shell crabs that turn out great. These make for some really awesome sandwiches.
image courtesy of flickr4jazz/flickr