if it WERE completely illegal then you couldn’t BUY it. You can’t harvest the crabs with roe attatched to the outside of the shell, you can keep the roe from crabs w/ roe on inside.

So you’re telling me that if I but a couple bushells of crab and get it home and find out I have a few females in the bunch I am committing a illegal act by cooking and eating them? And as to V960- maybe then we should all stop fishing and eating any meats because in a few years there won’t be any thing left.

Sorry folks but she crab soup hasn’t had roe in it for many years. I had it that way maybe thirty years ago (probably illegal even then) and it is unreal. Put the roe in the soup and you don’t have any crabs in a few years. My understaning is that even the keeping of a sponge crab (female w/ roe) is illegal in NC and SC.

PS best crab soup is in McClellanville, SC at the Crab Shop. Second is Hotel Charlotte in Charlotte.

I’ve noticed posts from NJ residents that state it is also illegal there.

Not sure of the other states, but in Maryland, it has been illegal to keep crabs with roe since 1989. So if a MD restaurant lists she-crab soup on the menu, it would have to be made with "imported" crabs, although the roe traditionally has been the item that uniquely makes it she-crab soup.

As a side note, from 1983 to 1988, sponge crabs were legal to catch in MD, so if you ate she-crab soup during those years, it very well could have been the real deal.

If you check the SC dept of Natural Resources, you will find that it IS illegal to fish for, harm, or keep female blue crabs (with roe attached),(sponge Crabs) in SC. I also found information on line that states it is illegal in NY and I believe in Maryland.

Authentic she crab soup uses crab roe. It isn’t illegal. (You eat caviar, – fish roe – right?) Here’s a source online:

http://www.charlestonseafood.com/mall/Shellfish.asp

And here’s a recipe from the restaurant 82 Queen, which they have posted on their website: http://www.82queen.com/recipes_she_crab_soup.asp

82 QUEEN AWARD WINNING
SHE CRAB SOUP

ROUX:

� LB. BUTTER
� LB. FLOUR

PREPARATION:
MELT BUTTER STIR IN FLOUR TO MAKE ROUX. ADD MILK AND CREAM, BRING TO BOIL. ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS, SIMMER FOR 20 MINUTES. GARNISH WITH SHERRIED WHIPPED CREAM.

INGREDIENTS:

1 CUP HEAVY CREAM
3 CUPS MILK
2 CUPS FISH STOCK OR WATER AND FISH BASE
� LB. CRAB ROE
1 LB WHITE CRABMEAT (SPECIAL)
1 CUP CHOPPED CELERY, LIGHTLY SAUT�ED WITH:
� CUP CHOPPED CARROTS
� CUP CHOPPED ONION
� CUP SHERRY WINE
1 TBL. TABASCO SAUCE
1 TBL. WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

MAKES 12 SERVINGS.

I prefer it without all the vegetables.

quote:

Originally posted by shaynas_mom

I’ve had she-crab soup as well, and no, it’s not the same. She-crab soup calls for roe. I’d never prepare this soup, probably because I’m a recreational crabber and I always throw the females back, whether they’re pregnant or not (and it’s against the law to keep a pregnant crab in NJ).

Both taste mighty good, though. And you know what? I almost forgot about the cream of crab soup my boyfriend and daughter and I ate in Easton, Maryland a few summers back. It was at Legal Spirits Tavern in downtown Easton, right next to the Avalon Theatre (very cool place). It was pretty expensive for a bowl, but worth every single
penny.

I live near the coast in SC. Many of the restaurants serve "she-crab" soup here as a specialty. Many of the locals make it at home. It is also illegal to keep pregnant crabs here. I’ve never seen any ingrediants in the soup which resemble roe nor have I seen egg in the soup. I think "she crab" is probably a mis-nomer in most restaurants when they are actually serving creamed crab soup.
In the better restaurants, the lump crab is placed in the dish first with a dash of sherry, then the cream sauce is poured over it.

Down here in Mobile restaurants serve she crab soup, but shrimp and crab bisque, gumbo and crab chodder are the favorites….best crab chowder on the western shore of the bay is at a local restaurant named Baudeans, make you want to slap yo momma good chowder! like $3.95 for a good size cup…Baudeans is on the road to Dauphin Island and they make an awesome oyster or shrimp Po’Boy [8D]

She-crab soup- I am obsessed with it. The only place I have ever seen it in Jacksonville is at a place called The River Club. It is members only, and I no longer have a membership = But anyway, on their menu, it is called North Carolina She Crab Soup, but I have read that it was made popular in Charleston, SC… how strange. Anyway, Emeril has a she-crab soup recipe that calls for hard boiled egg as well, so I assume the roe is not a necessity.

Hello Carlton Pierre. I don’t know about the Dockside Inn, but I just got back from VA Beach where I had the best she crab soup I’ve ever eaten at a place called Charley’s on Shore Drive. She crab is sometimes so rich I can’t eat anything else, but this was just right.. I polished off a full plate of fried shrimp also. Eating at VA Beach is such a treat… so many really good places, and we were lucky enough to hook up with some locals who directed us to several places back off the beach and not "touristy", just great food.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:

Originally posted by oldfrt

Peachpie – The hard shell ones you whacked with a little wood hammer and extracted the meat from inside and dipped in some butter which, combined with the Old Bay seasoning, led to a flavor you cannot beat! The young softshell ones, like Frank said, discarded the hard shell and the soft one, plus the crab meat, was totally AWESOME on a sandwich. They were deep fried and served on toasted bread and you gotta love em! They were larger than "dollar Size" and fit on a bread slice with the legs hanging out of it! Great!

Ahhh!

Don [:D]

I always had to turn them around and eat the crab sandwiches from the back. I couldn’t stand looking at the eyes. [:D]

When I had the fish market, I (when requested) always cleaned the soft-shells for my customers. Part of the cleaning was to thinly slice off the eye portion, thus the eater would not have to look them in the eye. Ah, can’t wait for the season to begin, to fry up several in butter, for lunch, with just a little Old Bay for added flavor. m-m-m-m-m!

Originally posted by Pancho

Do not cut corners. She Crab Soup is called that for that reason. You need the roe. Sherry should be added as a side, per taste. [8D]

You are quite correct. In Charleston, SC the she crab soup is fantastic. I’m not sure they all use roe, but you won’t be disappointed.

I’ll just file this here, but I understand from reading the earlier posts that She Crab Soup, which want to post about, is different from C of C Soup. But, I did have She Crab soup last night for the fiirst time. I expected a "thin" soup, and it was really more of a bisque, which I dearly love. I had this at the Dockside Inn in VA Beach and it was heavenly.
Few years ago I had the best Lobster Bisque I have ever tasted at a great little place north of Pittsburgh called The Saxonburg Inn. That’s about all there was in the town of Saxonburg, PA but I havenever had a bisque to compare with that until last night.
BTW, a bit of roadfood trivia….The only thing famous ever to come out of Saxonburg was the designer ( don’t remember his name) of the Brooklyn Bridge.

I remember sitting on a friends dock that stuck out into the Bay maybe 20 or 30 feet and a couple of us would take a length of string and tie a chicken neck on one end. We would lower the neck into the water and let it sink to the bottom. We would leave it there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes and very slowly begin to raise the line. If a crab found the neck it would be hanging onto it but once it neared the surface the crab would let go and float back down to the bottom. Trick was we always had a net with a long handle on it and while one person was pulling the line in, another person, would manouver the net to be under the lunching crab, or crabs. You had to do that as soon as you see the other end of the line as it is coming up. If all works correctly you can catch the crab(s) as they let go with the net.

Not a way to fill a bushel basket but nice way to pass some time on a hot summer day.

Don