Hello? Hello? Is Anybody Out There? (Recipe Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs)

About 6 weeks ago, I started a transition from Blogger to TypePad.

It’s been a rough ride, but I think I’ve finally landed. In case you didn’t notice, I’ve had a whole host of web-hosting issues – from having no template, just plain text to having a lone post from 2 years ago as the only content on the site. But now, after countless hours of calls and emails to tech-support, I think (*finally*) everything is fixed. If you used to subscribe to my blog-feed in reader or through RSS, please re-subscribed. If you didn’t already subscribe, now would be a fine time to start.

Though the blog has been an unhappy place, my garden continues to offer a respite.

With the unusually warm spring, the lettuces developed thick stems and spicy leaves. I like the flavors better now, but it requires a little more cleaning. The stems, though edible, are not palatable. So I trim them.

The garden yields about a gallon of leaves every other day. I realized this is far more lettuce than I can really eat on my own – I’ve been sharing with friends and neighbors, and bringing lettuce to client meetings. As I was strategizing where to plant tomatoes, I realized I could part with some lettuce. Out it went and in went the tomatoes.

I planted scallions several years ago. And when I harvest them, I only cut off the green stems and leave the white bulbs so they will continue to grow. By now, the scallions are quite thick and hardy – still pleasant as a raw garnish, but bordering on tough and fibrous. I planted a replacement crop of scallions, and as soon as those are ready to harvest, I will pull out the older ones completely.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs

In Chinese restaurants in Boston, they serve dried-fried shrimp on a
bed of shredded lettuce. I adapted the traditional dish to use soft
shell crabs on a bed of spicy lettuce greens.  Serve with steamed white rice for a main meal.

2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns, ground
pinch Chinese Five-spice
1/4 cup corn starch
2 soft shell crabs, cleaned
1/4 cup plain oil
3 scallions cut into rings
1 red jalapeno cut into rings
salad leaves for garden

1. Mix salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorns and five spice.
2. Dredge soft shell crabs in corn starch
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.  When oil shimmers, gently place crabs in oil, smooth side down.  Cook for 3 minutes or until they start to get crispy.  Flip them over and cook fro 3 minutes more.
4. Remove soft shell crabs from pan, and drain the oil.   Return the crabs to the pan over high heat.  Sprinkle about 1 tsp. of the seasoned salt on top, and stir to coat.  Toss in scallions and jalapenos and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Remove from heat.  Serve crabs with salad greens.