Recipe: Fried Soft-Shell Crab With Radish Salad From Mike Lata
Cook these crustaceans before they crawl away
Mike Lata of FIG and The Ordinary knows his way around seafood-especially live soft-shell crabs, which are now in season. Lata keeps things simple, dredging them in a mix of cornmeal and Old Bay before panfrying them in a whole lot of butter. He serves the crisp, golden crabs with an herb salad that he refers to as a "deconstructed tartar sauce" made with cornichons, parsley, scallions and shallots.
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To learn more, read "The Soft-Shell Hard Sell."
Recipe adapted from Mike Lata, The Ordinary and FIG, Charleston, SC
Soft-Shell Crabs with Radish Salad
Learn how to make chef Mike Lata's soft-shell crabs with radish salad.
Prep Time
20
minutes
Cook Time
5
minutes
servings
4
servings
Total time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
- For the Soft-Shell Crabs
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay
- 4 soft-shell crabs
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- Kosher salt, to taste
- For the Radish Salad
- 12 cornichons, sliced lengthwise
- 6 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 cups flat-leaf parsley
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 small shallot, very thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
Directions
- Make the soft-shell crabs: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and Old Bay.
- Lightly dredge the soft-shell crabs in the cornmeal mixture and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt half of the butter. When the butter begins to foam, working in 2 batches, fry the crabs, belly-side down. Cook, swirling the pan often, until the crabs are golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the crabs, turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat with the remaining 2 crabs.
- Transfer the crabs to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and season with salt while they're still hot.
- In a medium bowl, toss the cornichons, radishes, parsley, scallions, shallots, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt.
- Divide the soft-shell crabs and radish salad among 4 plates and serve.
Nutrition
| Calories per Serving | 367 |
| Total Fat | 20.9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11.5 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.7 g |
| Cholesterol | 62.2 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 37.7 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4.0 g |
| Total Sugars | 2.8 g |
| Sodium | 462.5 mg |
| Protein | 8.4 g |
The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
