So. I’ve cooked you soft-shell crabs. Again.

I can’t help it; I’m obsessed. I’d like to give you some variety here, but I just can’t resist these seasonal crabs. I blame their crispy skins, and the way you can suck out all the butter they’ve been cooked in, then pop the moist, soft meat in your mouth. crab fat that’s so wickedly good I want to hoot. I blame these East Coast blue crabs for making me wait all year, anticipation building, for them to shed their hard shells in May. I really don’t want to bore you (especially those of you who can’t find soft shell crabs where you live, poor souls) but I can’t help myself. I’m obsessed. With a crustacean.

Luckily, this recipe is as different as one soft shell crab recipe can be from another. While the creamed spinach recipe I wrote about in April was an example of soft shell crab luxury — it was our first soft shells of the season, and we really wanted to indulge — this recipe is a humble one, a home-cookin’ kind of crab.

I cooked these crabs the same way as the last, but when they were done I threw a few cloves of minced garlic into the pan, and once the garlic was brown and fragrant I added some Thai basil (though you could use regular, or any other variety, really) and then poured the garlicky, crab-infused butter over the whole dish.

I recommend you eat it by first munching up the crabs, shells and all of course, and then mixing all the delicious drippings into the rice and tomatoes. White rice, garlic, roasted tomatoes, and Thai basil — all scented with crab. I think I might even like this better than the luxurious creamed spinach version. And it’s easily the best white rice I’ve ever eaten.

It’s not the prettiest dish. In fact, I came close to not even posting it, but I decided I’d be cheating you if I didn’t. I spend the whole year looking forward to soft shell crabs, and to highlight one recipe and leave out another just as good — maybe better — just because it’s, er…homely, would be silly.

This is supposed to be my kitchen diary: a log of what’s coming out of my kitchen and what I’m really craving — not just the pretty dishes that I plan to blog days in advance. Sometimes an ugly dish conveys my kitchen life best, with humble food that’s satisfying and lovely and absolutely right on a hot day in the beginning of May, when your windows are wide open and you’re sitting at the table with a huge water glass and an ice-cold beer, and a serious appetite.

Soft shell Crabs with Tomatoes and Rice

Printable Recipe

serves 2, but can be easily doubled

for the tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
salt, pepper
olive oil
handful of Thai basil (or other variety of basil) leaves, torn

for the crabs

2 soft-shell crabs
flour, salt, pepper
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon high-heat oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
handful of Thai basil (or other variety of basil) leaves, torn
white rice (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 250ºF.

Drain tomatoes of there juice and give them a quick rinse under cold tap water. Carefully cut each tomato in half and place, cut-side up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle tomatoes with minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil and toss the tomatoes gently with your hands, making sure to coat the tomatoes evenly. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until they are beginning to caramelize, but are still plump and juicy.

Clean crabs if they aren’t already. Put flour, some salt, and pepper in a bowl. Carefully pat both sides of the crabs dry with a paper towel. Dredge in the flour and then lightly tap on them to remove any excess. Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a cast-iron or nonstick pan until very hot. Add crabs to the pan top-shell side down and cook for 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another three. Transfer to paper towels and dab the top of the crabs to remove excess oil.

While the pan is still over the heat, add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant and beginning to brown. Remove pan from heat and add the remaining basil.

Serve crabs over white rice with the tomatoes on the side, drizzling everything with the garlic butter and a few squirts of lemon.

White Rice

My favorite method for cooking rice.

2 (dry-measure) cups water
¼ – ½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 cup long-grain white rice

Bring water with salt and butter (or olive oil) to a boil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Add rice and stir once, then reduce heat to low and cook, covered, 20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat (do not lift lid) and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice gently with a fork.