Getting softshells from the Chesapeake Bay to your table is a little tricky. In order to make money at softshell crabbing, the crabber has to ‘fish-up’ every six hours or so. That is, he or she must ‘cull’ the floats to remove those crabs (‘shippers’) that have hardened enough to be packed into trays.
Fresh Soft Shell Crabs
Failure to pull the crabs out in time will result in ‘paper shells,’ which are too hard to have any market value. They are then graded by size, arranged in trays and covered with sea grass or wet newspaper for their journey to market. Recent innovation has allowed the building of self contained shedding systems that are far removed from the water source.
A note on paper shells: Rather than toss it back into the water, crabbers have discovered how to make it edible. Or rather, delicious. First you remove the top skin/shell. Then you clean out the “dead man’s fingers” and cut off the legs. What remains are the two body halves that contain all of the meat of the backfin. You dip these into batter and fry them until they are crispy. The result is a crunch that is all crab! Crabbers say these are even better than softshells.
So, once you learn to read the fin (very important) you are ready to build a trap and some pots, find a spot in a creek to stake a float and check it every six hours for soft crabs (don’t overlook any or they’ll harden and eat the others). Now pack them in trays, cover them with wet newspapers and refrigerate them, not too cold, until ready to ship or eat. That’s a lot of logistics.
Or, you can do something radical and bring the whole operation inside – with a climate-controlled tank full of peelers, ready to molt and eat immediately! By installing a special softshell tank in the dining room, The Boathouse has something unique in the restaurant world: Softshell crabs ready to cook the instant they shed!
Next….softshell recipes.
