Soft-Shell Crab with Brown Butter

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch heavy skillet (cast iron works beautifully)
• •Fish spatula
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Kitchen shears
• •Splatter screen

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the crabs

   If your fishmonger hasn't cleaned the crabs, do it yourself. Lift each pointed side of the top shell and pull out the feathery gills underneath. They're gray and spongy, can't miss them. Snip off the face just behind the eyes with kitchen shears. Flip the crab over and pull off the triangular apron on the belly. Rinse gently and pat completely dry with paper towels. Wet crabs don't crisp.

   Ask your fishmonger to clean the crabs for you. Most good ones will do it if you're cooking them same day. Just make sure they're still alive when cleaned.
2. 2

   Season the flour

   Whisk together the flour, salt, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and black pepper in a shallow dish or pie plate. This is your seasoning layer for the crust. Taste the flour mixture. It should have presence, a little heat that wakes up your tongue. Adjust the cayenne if you like more fire. That's the bayou way: taste as you go.

3. 3

   Dredge the crabs

   Season each crab lightly with salt on both sides. Press each crab firmly into the seasoned flour, coating both sides and getting into all the crevices around the legs. Shake off excess flour. The coating should be even and complete but not caked on thick. Set dredged crabs on a wire rack.

4. 4

   Heat the pan

   Set your largest skillet over medium-high heat. Add four tablespoons of butter and the vegetable oil. The oil raises the smoke point so the butter doesn't burn. When the butter foam subsides and the fat shimmers and ripples, you're ready. Should take about two minutes. If the butter browns before you add the crabs, start over. Burned butter tastes bitter.

   A twelve-inch skillet fits two crabs comfortably. Work in batches rather than crowding. Crowded crabs steam instead of crisp.
5. 5

   Fry the crabs

   Lay the crabs in the hot fat, top shell down first. They'll sputter and pop, that's the moisture escaping. Don't jump back, but do use a splatter screen if you have one. Cook without moving for three to four minutes until the edges turn deep golden and the coating is crispy. Flip carefully with a fish spatula and cook another two to three minutes until the second side matches. The crab should feel firm when pressed gently.

6. 6

   Rest and repeat

   Transfer finished crabs to a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Keep warm in a 200 degree oven while you cook remaining crabs. Add a bit more butter and oil between batches if the pan looks dry. Wipe out any burned flour bits with a paper towel before adding fresh fat.

7. 7

   Make the brown butter

   Wipe out the skillet and set it over medium heat. Add six tablespoons of fresh butter. Watch it carefully. It will melt, then foam, then the foam will subside and the milk solids will begin to toast on the bottom. Swirl the pan constantly. You'll smell hazelnuts when it's getting close. The butter should turn the color of a pecan shell, deep amber with dark flecks. This takes about three minutes. Do not walk away.

   Use a light-colored pan so you can see the butter changing color. Dark pans hide the browning until it's too late.
8. 8

   Finish the sauce

   The moment the butter reaches that deep amber color, pull the pan off the heat. Add the capers immediately, they'll sizzle and pop from the residual heat. Add the lemon juice, it will bubble up dramatically. That's the acid stopping the cooking and deglazing the pan. Swirl to combine. The sauce should look glossy and smell incredible: nutty, briny, bright all at once.

9. 9

   Plate and serve

   Place one crab on each warm plate. Spoon the brown butter sauce generously over and around each crab, making sure to get plenty of capers on top. Scatter fresh parsley over everything and add a lemon wedge to each plate. Serve immediately. This dish waits for nobody. The crust softens, the butter congeals. Eat it hot, eat it now.

Chef Tips

• •Buy your soft-shells alive the day you plan to cook them. Dead crabs spoil within hours. A live crab will move its legs when you pick it up. If it's limp, pass.
• •The season runs roughly April through September, with peak availability in May and June. Outside of that window, you're getting frozen, which works but isn't the same magic.
• •If cayenne intimidates you, start with a quarter teaspoon in the flour and work up from there. You can always add heat, but you can't take it away. That said, don't be timid. This dish should have some kick.
• •A crisp white wine or a cold beer is the only appropriate pairing. Something with enough acid to cut through that butter. At Lagniappe, we pour Muscadet or a good Louisiana lager.

Advance Preparation

• •The seasoned flour can be mixed up to a week ahead and stored in an airtight container.
• •Crabs must be cleaned and cooked the same day they're purchased. This is not a make-ahead dish.
• •You can clean the crabs up to four hours before cooking. Keep them refrigerated on a plate lined with damp paper towels.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)