Sticky Ginger Scallion Soft Shell Crabs

Good god these things are tasty. I love soft shell crabs in just about any form, but these are exceptional. Crispy wok-fried Chesapeake Bay soft shells coated in a sticky, spicy, gingery sauce are a perfect storm of hyper-regional ingredients and imported techniques. This is what food is all about: blending cultures, time and places.

Ginger scallion crab is a classic Chinese dish, usually done with hard shell crabs. It's a sticky, spicy and deeply savory dish, albeit a little messy to eat. While I don't shy away from messy foods, using softshells in this dish instead of hard crabs is just the best of both worlds. You get the deep umami flavor of the sauce, ginger and scallions and the crispness of the soft shells without having to pick the meat from shells.

Despite this new found, cleaner method of eating, I’ll be honest- I still didn’t eat them like a civilized man. I ate half of the crabs standing over the range with my hands. They are stupid good.

This preparation comes together fast, so make sure you have your mise en place ready to go. Make the sauce, prepare your other ingredients, and then clean your crabs right before they need to go into the wok. As a side note, this is one of the only times when I think smaller softshells are better than big ones. The smaller crabs will cook faster and are easier to eat without a fork. They are best eaten as soon as they are done. The longer they sit, the less crispy they will be. 

Sticky Ginger Scallion Soft Shell Crab Recipe

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4-6 soft shell blue crabs

~½ cup corn starch

2” ginger, peeled, cut into matchsticks

~1 bunch of scallions, cut into 2” sections, whites included

1 large jalapeno (or hot peppers of your choice)

Sauce:

3 tbsp oyster sauce

1/4t tsp white pepper, ground

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

4 tbsp water

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine

Method

Combine all ingredients for sauce and mix well

Prep crabs by removing face, gills and abdominal flap. Cut in half vertically. 

Heat a large wok or high sided pan on high heat, add ~⅛” of oil to the pan. Lightly dredge the crabs in corn starch and shake off excess. Fry in hot oil for 2 minutes. Flip crabs using a spatula. The shells should be bright red. There will be some starch stuck to the pan, use a metal spatula to scrape loose. Cook for 2 more minutes.

Add ginger, scallions and jalapeno to the pan with the crab. Stir and cook for ~2 minutes until very fragrant. 

Pour sauce over everything in the pan. Stir until evenly coated.

Serve immediately.