These crab sandwiches are lightly breaded and topped with a delicious tartar sauce. The recipe goes well with sauvignon blanc and appears in this full episode of “Un-Wined,” which airs Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. on VPM PBS.
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What You’ll Need:
- ¼ c. peanut oil
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 4 Soft Shell Crabs
- ½ c. cornmeal
- ½ c. all-purpose flour
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 4 sandwich buns
- Tomato Slices
- Lettuce Leaves
- Large frying pan
- Tabletop smoking gun
Caper Tartar Sauce:
- ½ c. mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp. minced red onion or scallions
- 1 tbsp. dill pickle relish
- 1 tsp. Dill pickle relish juice
- 1 tbsp. finely minced capers
- 1 tsp. caper juice
- 1 tbsp. thinly sliced chives
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. Cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Step 1: Heat oil and butter in a large frying pan.
Step 2: Clean the crabs. To clean, gently cut off the area where the eyes are located and remove the gills of the crab from the underbelly region.
Step 3: Mix the cornmeal and flour together on a plate and then dredge the crabs on both sides through the mixture.
Step 4: Place the crabs in hot oil. Fry for approximately 4 minutes per side. Because there is a lot of moisture in the crab, they will likely spatter as the moisture is released from the crab.
Step 5: Drain on paper towels then place the crabs on a plate covered with plastic wrap.
Step 6: Using a tabletop smoking gun, smoke the crabs according to the manufacturer’s directions. Smoke for 2 minutes.
Step 7: In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for the Caper Tartar Sauce.
Step 8: Then build the sandwich with the fried crab, tomato, lettuce and the Caper Tartar Sauce. Refrigerate leftovers.
