Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved soft shell crabs. I remember our family stopping at the Currituck Crab Co. on our trips to Nags Head in the late spring to buy them.
The CCC was a large screened-in concrete building with a big walk-in cooler running the length of the building. If I acted up, the picking-foreman, who stood behind two giant steamers, would tell me if I didn’t listen to my mom, he would cook me alongside the crabs! I pretty much fell in line at that point. The open floor was lined with old wooden tables where the ladies would sit and pick meat from the crabs, and I remember their fingers being cut up and worn.
Depending on who was eating, we would pick up six to ten crabs – they only cost about $0.35 or $0.40 each. I remember how intrigued I was that you could touch them and they would not pinch you.
It is harder for the crabs to move when they’re molting and soft shell. So if they do try to pinch your fingers, the claws are soft, it feels like plastic scissors against your skin.
We would sometimes stop by the same place on the way to the beach and get hard shells, but the soft shells were always the real treat.
After cleaning the crabs and soaking them in just a little buttermilk, we would dust them with a mix of seasoned flour and corn meal and then fry them in a cast iron skillet in hot oil. We ate them with shredded slaw and it was heaven.
Although soft shells are now about $3.50 each, the taste and my excitement for that time of year has not changed. While they are great grilled and sautéed, I still prefer dusting them with corn meal and deep frying them.
Soft Shells Ready for Cleaning
