Prepping Soft-Shell Crab Starts With One Important Step

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While we love to enjoy all types of shellfish during the summer months (or all year round!), soft-shell crab is undoubtedly a favorite. It can take time for beginners cooking with this crustacean to get used to it, but the rewards are plentiful and unique. They are not a distinct species of crab; rather, their smooth texture comes from being harvested during a molting stage in their development. Unlike their hard-shell counterparts, the entire soft-shell crab body is edible, making them much easier to eat since no cracking and digging for meat is required.

Even so, that doesn't mean they should just be eaten, shell and all, without a proper cleaning. According to expert Shirley Chung, a Chinese-American chef and owner of Ms. Chi Cafe in Culver City, California, properly cleaning soft-shell crab is a crucial step because "there are a few parts that can ruin the taste and the texture if you don't remove them." One of the most important parts to remove is the crab's face. "Although it is edible," Chung says, "the shell around their eyes is harder than the rest of the body, and it tastes better to remove it."

Chef Shirley Chung says there's one main mistake that novices tend to make when preparing soft-shell crab: "Many people tend to skip removing the face." Avoid this pitfall with Chung's simple directives for cleaning and prepping your crabs. "You should always remove the face of the crab," she says, by "[using] scissors to cut straight right behind the eyes." Then, "lift up the shell to remove/cut off the feathery looking gills from both sides, and then flip it over to cut off the back plate of the soft-shell crab."

Following these steps ensures your crab is not only edible, but tasty and texturally satisfying. When it comes to utensils, Chung says, "a pair of small kitchen shears is the best tool to prep a soft-shell crab." If you don't already have some in your arsenal, a simple pair, such as the KitchenAid all-purpose shears, should do the trick. After cleaning your soft-shell crab, the next step is of course to cook and devour it — which most commonly means frying or pan-sautéing the crab. Now that you know how simple they are to prep, the only thing stopping you from enjoying soft-shell crab in your next seafood dinner is ensuring your shellfish is in-season.