"Are you serious?" I pointed at six of the best looking crabs and the smiling man gently placed them in a paper bag. Visions of soft shell crabs swimming in lemon juice and butter flooded my imagination, but the craving for a soft-shell crab sandwich floated to the top.
I can't bury the lead, so here's the finished product.
We rode back into Manhattan on the 7 into Grand Central. Before returning home, I swung through Grand Central Market and picked up some excellent bacon from Murray's, Boston lettuce, and a Pullman loaf from Corrado Bread. Total cost of all the ingredients: slightly over $20. As I usually do when I find a nice piece of fish in Chinatown, I also check the price at Wild Edibles in Grand Central. The result: $8.99 per soft-shell crab. You can also order two for $30 dollars at Grand Central Oyster Bar if you're interested...
Although I could have eaten all six crabs, it was only 4 o'clock. My college roommate had invited me to a happy hour down the street, and while I met him at the bar, all I could think of were the soft-shell crabs waiting for me in an ice-filled bowl in my fridge. My leg bounced up and down nervously as I tried to finish my beer and think non-soft shell crab thoughts.
As soon as I returned to my apartment, I prepped two of the soft-shell crabs in the traditional, humane method of cutting their faces off with scissors and pulling out their lungs. I dredged them in flour with salt, pepper and red chile powder, before shallow frying them in peanut oil for 3-4 minutes per side. As soon as they were finished, I covered the crabs in fresh lemon juice. For the first sandwich, I only added one of the crabs along with the bacon and lettuce (I ate the second one in about two bites). I would have made mayo, but I had already waited long enough, so I just made a quick remoulade. Like the solo crab, I think I ate the sandwich in under four bites.
I love the part that tastes like crabby egg whites.
Once The Quaker came home (mensch that I am), I offered him two of the remaining crabs. We made a second pair of sandwiches, this time shoving two crabs into each. As a side, I fried some peanuts in the leftover bacon fat and seasoned them with Sichuan pepper, salt, red chile powder and sugar.
I can assure you I tasted the sandwich this time. We added capers to the remoulade, which provided a nice salty kick once spread on the lightly toasted Pullman bread. The crabs, filled with plump, juicy meat, tasted perfectly fresh with a lemony bite. The Murray's bacon is always incredible, and added a great smoky depth to the sandwich.
I finished my sandwich and lay back on the couch, slipping into a food coma, and feeling a rush of euphoria from the great deal I had found and the mind-blowingly good sandwich I had just eaten. Very few things can accurately describe the pleasure of having four meaty soft-shell crabs sitting in my belly. Regardless, the fried soft-shell crab and bacon sandwich will surely go down in the annals of the greatest treif sandwiches I've ever made.
Seafood offered as refined products includes Crab Dynasty various meats, lobster meat, oysters, clams, mussels, cockles,Crab Dynasty cold normal water shrimp and others. Non-traditional packaging is also offered, with foil pouches being a frequent choice for consumers.
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