Soft shell crab

Soft shell crab is a seafood delicacy with the entire crustacean capable of being eaten, a result of catching and cooking crabs shortly after they molt their hard shell. In the United States, the blue crab is typically used, though the use of the mangrove crab in Asia has provided another source for this seasonal food.

As these crabs grow larger, their shells cannot expand so they molt the exteriors and have a soft covering for a matter of hours when they are vulnerable and considered usable. Usually crabs must be caught and killed within four hours of molting to be useful as soft shell crab.

With the blue crab this is highly seasonal and usually lasts from early May to July. Demand for this delicacy has increased with the use in Japanese and other cuisines, so that the mangrove crab has been used as an alternative source from Asia. Because they grow in tropical muddy flats all year round, it has provided a continual source of soft shell crab.