# Velvet crabs



## risby (Jun 14, 2006)

Could anybody offer any advice on use of velvet crabs? I bought some, frozen, on impulse yesterday and have found only very sparse info (one recipe for souffle) on the web.

How much meat does one crab shell contain (i.e. grams per 100 gram crab)?

How have you prepared or eaten them yourself?

Any comments gratefully received.


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## diego (Sep 23, 2002)

If this is what I call Soft Shell Crabs, or crabs recently molted from their shells, just dust with flour and saute briefly in butter. You eat the whole thing.


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## risby (Jun 14, 2006)

After a google search or two I don't think they are. Velvet crabs are Portunus puper whereas it seems "soft shell crab" can refer to several species such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) or, in asia, the mangrove crab (which itself is a name that refers to several species which happen to live among mangroves).

I have insufficient posts to enable me to use a link so here is a quote from the wikipedia


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## diego (Sep 23, 2002)

If they were frozen they must have been already steamed. I guess you would just thaw and eat. No idea of the meat to scrap ratio of the body. Dunginess crabs are high but blue crabs are low.


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## risby (Jun 14, 2006)

Thanks for your help. I found that Mitchell Tonks' book "Fresh" has Baked Rice with Velvet Crabs and Saffron, p.78, if anyone is interested.

He says "Take the top shells off the crabs, remove the dead men's fingers, and put the top shell back on. That is all the preparation that is needed".

Which sounds good to me!


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