Report - Rhode River July 9, 2005

[moc]

Started crabbing at day break in 2-5 ft of water. By 9:30am we had 3/4 of a bushel, then the crabs turned off. We tried to find them by moving to deeper water (7-10 ft), but no luck. Still, there were lots of little crabs in the water. We had plenty of through backs. We packed it up and left home to steam and fry our crabs. Yes fry, my crabbing partner for the day is from down south and they fry crabs. It was good. Crabbing is still slow, but will get better soon.

[POLECAT]

Hey Moc,

Can you elaborate on the fried crabs.

I've had them batter dipped and deep fried, but not fried like a soft crab would be.

Appreciate whatever detailed info you can post.[smile]

[moc]

My fried crabs are also batter dipped and deeped fried. I first saw some folks selling them down in North Carolina. Then I noticed a few restaurants, even in OC started selling them. There was one guy selling them on the road in the south, but he would not give me the recipe. I decided to figure it out myself, and my wife says my fried crabs are better and tastier that the ones that you buy from down south. At least that is her opinion.

Here is what I do, I kill the crab with an ice pick as described on this board :) Then I separate the back from the crab and clean all the "stuff" from inside the crab and remove the lungs and mandibles. Rinse under cold water. You should now have a clean crab with all the legs attached and two intact body parts.

Next is the batter for dipping the crabs. I do not have a firm recipe, but this is for the most part what I do. This will be able to coat 3 dozen crabs at least:

Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup corn meal, 1 tp of black pepper, lots of garlic powder, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of red wine vinager, 1 teaspon of thyme, 1 tbsp of salt, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of catchup, 3 tbsp of Texas Pete hot sauce, 1 tbsp of old bay and two tbsp of sugar.

Mix everything to a creamy batter. Add more flour and cornmeal for a thicker batter. Dip crab and drop in a hot oil (vegatable or canola or peanut) at 360 to 375 degrees. Let cook on one side for 2 to 3 mins then flip. Crab is almost done when it floats and it turns golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and lightly sprinkle with a minute amount of salt. That is it!

I am even experimenting adding curry and other spices to the batter to make curry fried crabs....other sprinkling options when it comes out of the fryer is sprinkle it with old bay or JO or garlic and parsley flakes...... now I am hungry.....

[POLECAT]

Thanks Moc for the detailed instructions.

Was hoping for something new and different than batter dipped fried hard crabs, but your recipe sounds delectable.