# explain the appeal of soft shelled crab. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051 "2012-01-10T15:39:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/1 "2012-01-10T15:39:12Z")
Soft-shelled crab seems to have a reputation as some sort of delicacy. Why? Do they taste better? Are they that much easier to open than a crab whose shell has firmed up? Is it just because they’re rare? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/2 "2012-01-10T15:47:00Z")
You don’t open them up. You eat them, shell and all. And yes, they are yummy. And it’s the same species as hard shelled crab, just they are taken right after they molt. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/3 "2012-01-10T15:49:21Z")
Uh… I think you are misunderstanding the point of “soft shelled”. You don’t open up the crab - you eat the whole thing. The shell is soft enough to that it can be eaten along with the rest of the crab. As to why? It’s easier. And since you eat the whole thing you get more meat than picking a hard crab. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/4 "2012-01-10T15:58:51Z")
You can also deep fry them; the crisp breading and the shell give it a nice crunch. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/5 "2012-01-10T16:01:50Z")
The first time I saw one on my plate I didn’t know what to make of it. I asked my dad “What part do I eat?” He said “Everything you see.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/6 "2012-01-10T16:02:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You can also deep fry them 😕 I thought it was always deep-fried. Have you had it plain, and if so, what did you think? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/7 "2012-01-10T16:23:56Z")
What I meant was that you didn’t deep fry hard-shelled crabs because there was no point: the breading would be lost when you cracked the shell. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/8 "2012-01-10T16:46:29Z")
Coincidentally I had them for the first time two days ago. The appeal is that they’re freaking delicious. And substantial - you get a big fuck-off leg to munch on rather than fiddling around with a fork trying to extract the meat. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/9 "2012-01-10T17:21:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > What I meant was that you didn’t deep fry hard-shelled crabs because there was no point: the breading would be lost when you cracked the shell. I had soft-shelled crab only once, about seven years ago. As **mozchron** suggests, I was unclear on the concept, and so I was puzzled by this thing: it was relatively very small (compared to, say, king crab or snow crab legs), and it was indeed battered and deep-fried. I didn’t get the point of the deep-frying/batter, and I was annoyed at the difficulty of trying to extract meaningful quantities of meat from inside the leg shells, so I gave up without getting much out of it. The whole thing didn’t seem to have a very good flavor/smell about it anyway, but maybe that was because I was in Duluth instead of Baltimore. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/10 "2012-01-10T17:29:30Z")
A soft-shell crab sandwich is one of the greatest delicacies in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/11 "2012-01-10T17:38:57Z")
I first had one as part of a class where we got to go to restaurant kitchens. There was a Thai restaurant in DC, near the Woodley Park Metro station, which had awesome soft shell crab. It is a totally different taste from regular crab, which is also great. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/12 "2012-01-10T17:54:35Z")
Pan sauteed soft shell crabs are delicious too. I love it between two slices of bread. With the legs sticking out, it looks like you’re eating a spider sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/13 "2012-01-10T17:56:33Z")
It’s a big fried bug on a bun, what’s not to get? And it’s awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/14 "2012-01-10T17:57:10Z")
It’s like eating a giant spider. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/15 "2012-01-10T17:59:02Z")
I’ve never had soft-shelled crabs: do they remove the guts before frying them? ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/16 "2012-01-10T18:01:57Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > There was a Thai restaurant in DC, near the Woodley Park Metro station, which had awesome soft shell crab. Jandara? Love the food and the bizarre outer-space decor. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > With the legs sticking out, it looks like you’re eating a spider sandwich. Which reminds me of another delicious use of soft shell crab: [spider roll](http://www.google.com/search?q=spider+roll&hl=en&prmd=imvnse&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5HwMT4_GM8T40gGs7pDVBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=612). ETA: **hogarth** , no they don’t. You literally eat the entire animal. And it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/17 "2012-01-10T18:14:51Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > J > ETA: **hogarth** , no they don’t. You literally eat the entire animal. And it’s good. I’ve never prepared one myself, but, so far as I can tell, they are cleaned: the head, the gills, and the “apron” are removed. [Here’s a video of it being done](http://www.chow.com/food-news/54638/how-to-clean-soft-shell-crab/). If you’re squeamish, you might not want to hit “play,” as the crab is still alive when it’s being prepared. ETA: I should add, it doesn’t look like they literally remove the guts in that video, and what I’ve seen online, it seems that some clean the inside, some don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/18 "2012-01-10T18:18:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve never prepared one myself, but, so far as I can tell, they are cleaned: the head, the gills, and the “apron” are removed. [Here’s a video of it being done](http://www.chow.com/food-news/54638/how-to-clean-soft-shell-crab/). If you’re squeamish, you might not want to hit “play,” as the crab is still alive when it’s being prepared. ETA: I should add, it doesn’t look like they literally remove the guts in that video, and what I’ve seen online, it seems that some clean the inside, some don’t. Huh! Good to know, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/19 "2012-01-10T18:20:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I first had one as part of a class where we got to go to restaurant kitchens. There was a Thai restaurant in DC, near the Woodley Park Metro station, which had awesome soft shell crab. It is a totally different taste from regular crab, which is also great. Yes, that was one of my favorite places to have Thai soft-shelled crab when I lived in DC. I always try to have it when I go back if its in season. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051/20 "2012-01-10T18:42:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It’s like eating a giant spider. And called a spider roll when wrapped in rice and seaweed at a sushi joint! There was a Chinese place in Mountain View that I would go to that had soft shelled prawns that were great - served in a steel wok with thin sliced hot peppers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-appeal-of-soft-shelled-crab/609051.md?page=2)