June 29, 2021
Deep Fried Soft Shell Crabs with Chilli Dipping Sauce
The beauty of a soft shell crab is that there is no messy prep involved and you can eat the whole crab! Often used as tempura in Japanese cooking, why not try this version with a little curry spice for an Indian twist.
Serves 3-4 Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
For the soft shell crabs:
6 - 8 prime soft shell crabs
150g plain flour
150g cornflour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 ½ tsp curry powder
2 litres sunflower oil
For the dipping sauce:
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp light brown sugar
½ shallot, finely diced
1 green chilli, sliced
Handful coriander, finely chopped
Juice 1 lime
Method
- Defrost the crabs.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
- Heat the oil to 190°C in a heavy bottom pan or deep fat fryer, prepare a try lined with kitchen paper.
- Mix together the flours, salt, pepper & curry powder. Whisk the egg whites until they are fluffy and form soft peaks
- Dip the crabs into the egg whites then coat in the flour mixture, drop into the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes, drain on the kitchen paper. Fry the crabs in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Sprinkle with a little sea salt before serving with the dipping sauce.