Soft-shell crab
Callinectes sapidus · Seafood
Top 10 pairings
Soft-shell crab is not a species but a fleeting life stage — a blue crab (Callinectes sapidus, and a few other species elsewhere) caught in the few hours just after it has moulted its hard shell, when the new shell is still soft and papery. With the whole animal edible, it is cleaned and fried legs, claws and all, prized for its crisp shell and sweet, custardy interior.
Picking a good onedrag
Just landed, legs kickingOff: dead, limp, ammonia smell
LivelyBuy itCook it to 145°F (63°C). Freshwater crab can carry lung fluke: never eat it raw, pickled or salted.
Touch a legLegs move freely when touched
SmellMild and briny
These cues are Crab's, and hold across its varieties; where this one differs, its own page says so.