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How To Cook Soft Shell Crabs On The Grill

How To Cook Soft Shell Crabs On The Grill

How To Cook Soft Shell Crabs On The Grill? Softshell crabs are crabs, recently shed their exoskeleton. Soft-shell crabs are caught and preserved in a preferable climate control environment to prevent any further hardening before being cooked, grilled, or sold. People all around the world enjoy this culinary dish. It is preferred to eat the soft-shell crabs before the shell gets hardened because the hardened shell tastes like an undercooked potato and is not quite appetizing. 

How To Wash And Clean Soft-Shell Crabs

When you go to your local fish market, don’t forget to ask the shopkeeper to clean the soft-shell crabs you bought for you. now moving on to the step-by-step guide on how you can wash soft-shell crabs in the comfort of your home:

  • First, remove the head of the crab using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife.
  • If you lift the sides of the crab and look closely, you’ll see a pair of gills. Pull out those gills using small tongs or your fingers.
  • At the bottom of the soft-shell crabs, a triangular-shaped apron is present, which is longer in male crabs and wider in female crabs.
  • Pull and cut off the apron from its base.
  • Now rinse the cleaned soft-shell crab under running cold water and dry it with a paper towel in a patting manner.

Basic Steps To Prepare Soft-Shell Crabs

Although you can find frozen soft-shell all year-round, the most delicious ones are caught and preserved on the East coast at the end of spring, the beginning of summer. Due to their small size, it might feel like you’ve eaten nothing unless it’s two or three soft-shell crabs as an appetizer. For the main course, 4-5 soft-shell crabs are a reasonable serving size. For its preparation:

  • Put the grill on the heat for about a few minutes until is medium hot, to check the temperature of the grates, put your hand at the distance of about 2 inches and the temperature is right if you’re able to keep your hand above the grate for about a few seconds before removing it.
  • Now put your favorite oil on the freshly cleaned, washed, and pat dried soft-shell crabs i.e., mustard oil, melted butter, cooking oil, etc., and let it sit until the grates of the grill are medium hot.

Cooking this seafood will also give it a nice flavor! The best way to cook frozen king crabs is by grilling them for about 15 minutes on medium-high heat. If you want more of a crispy crust, make sure to put some melted butter in between each piece of meat before putting it on the grill. This will help give it a golden brown color and better texture when it’s cooked through

What You Need To Cook Frozen King Crab Legs On The Grill

to Cook Frozen King Crab Legs on the Grill

-1 lb of frozen king crab legs

-2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil

-salt and pepper to taste

-lemon wedges

-garlic cloves (optional)

-dried thyme (optional)

When you go to your local fish market, don’t forget to ask the shopkeeper to clean the soft-shell crabs you bought for you. now moving on to the step-by-step guide on how you can wash soft-shell crabs in the comfort of your home:

  • First, remove the head of the crab using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife.
  • If you lift the sides of the crab and look closely, you’ll see a pair of gills. Pull out those gills using small tongs or your fingers.
  • At the bottom of the soft-shell crabs, a triangular-shaped apron is present, which is longer in male crabs and wider in female crabs.
  • Pull and cut off the apron from its base.
  • Now rinse the cleaned soft-shell crab under running cold water and dry it with a paper towel in a patting manner.

Basic Steps To Prepare King Crabs

Although you can find frozen soft-shell all year-round, the most delicious ones are caught and preserved on the East coast at the end of spring, the beginning of summer. Due to their small size, it might feel like you’ve eaten nothing unless it’s two or three soft-shell crabs as an appetizer. For the main course, 4-5 soft-shell crabs are a reasonable serving size. For its preparation:

  • Put the grill on the heat for about a few minutes until is medium hot, to check the temperature of the grates, put your hand at the distance of about 2 inches and the temperature is right if you’re able to keep your hand above the grate for about a few seconds before removing it.
  • Now put your favorite oil on the freshly cleaned, washed, and pat dried soft-shell crabs i.e., mustard oil, melted butter, cooking oil, etc., and let it sit until the grates of the grill are medium hot.

Right Way To Grill The Soft-Shell Crabs

Once the grates of the grill have reached the required temperature, put the oiled side of the soft-shell crabs down, on the heated grates and cover the grill for about 4-6 minutes until the crabs turn light brown. Flip the crabs to the other side and generously spread the oil you put on the previous side, repeat the whole procedure. Within a total of 10 minutes, your soft-shell crabs should be ready to be served. Use safety like tongs to remove thoroughly grilled soft-shell crabs from the grates.

Serving Options To Cook Soft Shell Crabs On The Grill

People who enjoy grilled soft-shell crabs all around the globe find it equally appetizing and delicious at any temperature whether served to steam hot, cold, or even at room temperature. Grilled soft-shell crabs are like one-bite appetizers and can be served in variety o ways accompanied with different main dishes. 

  • Arrange the crabs on a rectangular dish or round plate along with a bowl of melted cheese or melted butter.
  • You can use different dips, for example, garlicky aioli or rouille sauce.
  • Grilled soft-shell crab sandwich: replace your favorite patty or ham with grilled crab to the recipe, add pesto sauce and a generous amount of melted butter, till it dribbles down the sides of your sandwich.
  • Grilled soft-shell crab wraps are a fascinating way to enjoy, spread some lemon butter and sliced or diced pickled vegetables before you add the crabs.
  • Add grilled soft-shell crabs in a small corn tortilla, squeeze fresh lime juice over the grilled crabs, and garnish with fresh coriander and red onions.
  • You can serve 2-3 grilled soft-shell crabs per plate, it is usually served with Aglio olio pasta, but you can serve it with any simple pasta you cooked. 

Conclusion

Grilled sot-shell crabs are seafood preferred to be enjoyed with its natural flavor, therefore, the recipe o grilled soft-shell crabs are always kept simple and quick keeping the original flavor of the soft-shell crabs intact. They come pre-cleaned and cooked, so all you have to do is heat them. The best way to do this is by putting them on the grill for about 15 minutes or until they’re fully heated through. Continue reading this article to learn the proper way to cook frozen crab legs on the grill. 


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