Help me eat this delicious Chinese crab dish

May 27, 2008 1:40 PM

Help me eat this delicious Chinese crab dish.

Feeling adventurous at lunch time today, I ordered some ginger and green onion crab from a delivery place. What I got was one crab, cut in quarters, seasoned with delicious faux-chinese goodness, breaded and deep fried. Shell and assorted inedible parts where still attached, and I couldn't figure out how I'm supposed to eat this, with chopsticks no less.

Should I pick this up with my fingers and just eat the meat parts? Is there some trick to getting the meat out of the shell? Is the shell edible? Or is my local non-Chinese Chinese cook clueless?

Apologies if my display of ignorance is offensive to anyone. Anyway, it was really tasty and the people watching me were amused.

posted by ghost of a past number to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Not that I *know* or anything, but I'd use my fingers. There are some things that just don't even taste right unless you do (say, pizza!). I'd chalk this one up as one of those.
posted by neblina_matinal at 2:06 PM on May 27, 2008

The shell is probably edible. But regardless of that just use your fingers.
posted by BobbyDigital at 2:08 PM on May 27, 2008

Best answer: That sounds like a typical soft shell crab preparation. Is it a soft shell crab? (Tip: on a soft shell crab, the shell? It's soft.) If the shell is soft and yielding under the breading rather than hard and "armor" like, then you just eat the whole thing -- shell, meat and especially delicious legs. If it's hard shell then that's sort of odd and you would have to get the meat out and the "fried" on the shell would be strange. I'll leave that to others.
posted by The Bellman at 2:09 PM on May 27, 2008

Sounds like you got some soft-shell crab. If it was breaded and deep-fried, then yes, it's edible, thin shell and all.
posted by madman at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008

The Bellman is right.

If it's deep fried, it's soft shell crab. Pick it up with your chopsticks and either bite off a piece or pop it in your mouth and chew.
If it's covered with sauce, it's hard shell and that's the thing that requires more finesse.

It'd be weird for a hard shell crab to be dipped and deep fried.
posted by spec80 at 2:22 PM on May 27, 2008

Best answer: If it's hard shell, it's perfectly okay to use your fingers and teeth to crack the shell open and get the meat out.
posted by pravit at 2:25 PM on May 27, 2008

Response by poster: I'm guessing it was hard shell: from the wiki link I don't think the soft-shell would be available around here, plus it didn't feel soft - marginally edible, but you'll be calling your dentist later. From what I understand, the soft-shell should feel something like a prawn; this was definitely harder. It was fried, but also came with sauce, plus lots of onions.
posted by ghost of a past number at 2:46 PM on May 27, 2008

I've had hard-shell crab similar to that before. Tear it apart, suck the meat out, make a mess, just don't cut a finger.
posted by exit at 3:41 PM on May 27, 2008

Yep, totally okay to eat with your fingers, sounds delicious!
posted by wangarific at 4:23 PM on May 27, 2008

I'm guessing it was something like this? That's amazing you have a place that'll deliver it, what city are you in and what's the name of it?

Anyway, it's times like these that you just want a lot of extra napkins a cracker and a small fork. I don't eat the shell, just the fried stuff around it and the meat inside. Yum!
posted by lannanh at 4:47 PM on May 27, 2008

Best answer: Should I pick this up with my fingers and just eat the meat parts? Is there some trick to getting the meat out of the shell? Is the shell edible? Or is my local non-Chinese Chinese cook clueless?

1) Yes.
2) If you have good teeth, it's easier to crack open the shell bits with your molars than it is to suck out the meat bits or fish them out with a tiny fork. Careful, though, I've got relatives who've chipped teeth doing it.
3) Not really if it's not a soft-shell, which it doesn't sound like it is.
4) Maybe if they're actually breading it. Batter is not so odd, but breading is not very traditional.
posted by juv3nal at 5:09 PM on May 27, 2008

Response by poster: It didn't look anything like lannah's link, the shell was cut in four. I'm guessing it's a dish that calls for soft-shell crab, and they're winging it by using a small hard-shell and hoping nobody notices. As for the breaded / battered distinction, my frying terminology is a little fuzzy - maybe it was battered after all.
posted by ghost of a past number at 12:18 AM on May 28, 2008