Crab meat is delicious, but it's a bit of a hassle to get your hands on, what with the rock-hard shell and all. That's why soft shell crab – fished when it's just shed its shell and before the new one's had a chance to harden – makes such a great starter, and one that's easy to whip up at home. Amsterdam restaurant 5&33 serves it with salsa verde – see below for the recipe.
A recipe for soft-shell crab from 5&33
Soft-shell crab is one of our favourite things to eat, particularly when it comes with salsa verde à la this recipe from Amsterdam's 5&33 restaurant
Serves 4
Preparation time 10 mins
Cooking time 10 mins
Ingredients
- 8 soft shell crab divided in half
- 150g type 00 flour
- 20g cornflour
- 200ml sparkling water
- 5 ice cubes
- sea salt
- 1 litre vegetable oil
- 1 fresh red chilli
For the salsa verde
- 3 cloves garlic
- small handful of capers
- handful of fresh parsley
- glug of olive oil
- salt and pepper
Method
- Prepare the batter by mixing the flours, the water cooled with the ice and a pinch of salt. Mix to a very smooth, runny batter.
- Put the oil in a deep, thick-coated pan and heat up to 180 degrees. Toss the crabs lightly in the corn flour, and then dip them into the batter one at the time. Fry one at a time in the oil for under a minute or until crispy and golden.
- Serve topped with some freshly chopped chillies. Blend all the salsa verde ingredients together and pour into a bowl. Serve alongside the crab.
