She Crab Soup
With the wealth of seafood available in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States from oysters, crabs, flat fish, round fish and shellfish we are so fortunate that we have so many great tastes to sample.
What makes a great She Crab Soup. Well, it all starts with the freshest female crabs you can find and afford. They should be active with a nice blue color to them. That’s why their called “Chesapeake Blue Crabs”.
What you want is the “Lump” meat of the crab, this is the meat that sits in the back of the crab. You also want to reserve the orange roe from the female (if available).
For a She Crab Soup to be considered Chesapeake Bay style it must have Old Bay Seasoning.
Ok lets start making this soup!!! first get all your ingredients together and get them prep’d (meaning what needs to be cut, chopped, diced and measured) get all this out of the way first. Next get all your equipment together for this you will need a big old heavy bottom soup pot. For me I love old fashion Cast Iron Soup pot they add that little extra something to the soup.
Start by making the base for the soup, since She Crab Soup is a cream soup we will be using a single pot cream method.
Start by sauteing the vegetables (onions, shallots and/or carrots). Add in the butter and let melt. Following this by adding the flour, let this cook for about 2-3 minutes so the flour taste will cook off. You have now made a roux. This will be the base for the rest of the soup.
The next step is to add in your liquid (milk, cream and stock), since this is a seafood you will want to add in shrimp or fish stock. If you don’t have stock you can use a fish or shrimp base. As the liquid comes to a boil you will then be able to see how thick the soup becomes and if you need to add more liquid to the soup you can do it now. Remember it is easier to add liquid to the soup to thin it down than and more thickener to the soup.
Bring the soup to a boil reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for about 15-20 minutes (keep stirring the soup so that the milk and cream does not burn on the bottom of the pot). At this time you can add the rest of the ingredients except for the crab meat (Tabasco, Old Bay lemon juice) and taste to make sure it is how you like it. Adjust as necessary. About 5 minutes before your ready to serve, add in the crab meat and if using the roe add that in as well, be careful not to break up the meat. Also add in the Sherry to the soup and simmer for another 5 minutes while stirring very carefully.
Get yourself some large soup bowls and big ladle and enjoy. To garnish this fabulous cream soup you can add home made croutons hold back a few peaces of crab and maybe some chopped green onion for color and a little texture.
If you make it let me know how it came out!!!
Here are links to a couple of She Crab Soup Recipes for you to try
Chesapeake Bay She Crab Soup
http://www.moyockonline.com/index.php?option=com_garyscookbook&Itemid=72&func=detail&id=328
82 Queen She Crab Soup
http://www.moyockonline.com/index.php?option=com_garyscookbook&Itemid=72&func=detail&id=101
