With Soft-Shell Crab, You Eat the <i> Whole</i> Thing

“Are you sure?” It was my husband and my daughter. “We should eat the whole thing?” they chimed. Yes, the legs, the claws, the body; all in the shell. Eat the shell.

It’s darned embarrassing to be a food writer for umpteen years and have a family who doesn’t know how to eat a soft-shelled crab. Well, now they know.

Out West where we live, soft-shelled crabs are foreigners. Even though they are in season now, we seldom find them fresh. But we can buy them as frozen imports (out of season, too) from the East Coast.

When I discovered a few on a recent trip to the fish market, I brought them home to saute and serve atop a hollandaise sauce sparked with lime and hot pepper flakes.

“The sauce is too tangy,” complained my daughter.

“These things are sure strange,” worried her dad.

They ate cautiously. She finished her crab, shell and all, but ignored the sauce. He rejected one of the two small crabs but mopped up the flavorful sauce. I ate everything--sauce, shell and all, including what they left behind.

SAUTEED SOFT-SHELL CRABS IN HOT PEPPER HOLLANDAISE

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

Salt, pepper

8 soft-shell crabs, about 2 ounces each, cleaned

6 tablespoons corn oil

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Dried red pepper flakes

1/2 cup hot melted butter

Lime wedges

Combine flour and cornmeal in shallow dish and season to taste with salt and pepper. Dust crabs, 1 at time, in flour mixture. Arrange half of crabs in pan, back-sides down, and fry over medium-high heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Turn and brown other side. Keep warm while frying remaining crabs, adding more oil if needed.

Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, lime juice and salt and red pepper flakes to taste in blender. Process to blend. With motor running, slowly add hot melted butter.

To serve, spoon some sauce onto each of 4 warm dinner plates. Top each portion with 2 crabs. Serve with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.