Maryland Crab Soup

This past weekend, we went down to the beach for the weekend and decided that crabs were in order. Ended up having 9 or 10 crabs leftover that we brought home, so I decided that a crab soup was their final destiny.

As I recall, this was the approximate recipe:

1 1/2 lb crab, fresh picked.
1 small onion diced.
2 red potatoes, peeled and diced.
4 small carrots, diced.
3 celery stalks, diced.
3 cloves garlic, minced.
1 bay leaf
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup or so, fresh green beans
2 ears white corn, cut from the cob
1 quart chicken stock
1 TBS worcestershire sauce
3 TBS Old Bay
1 dash cayenne pepper
2 cups water
2 TBS olive oil
pepper to taste

Sautee the Mirepoix in olive oil for a few minutes, then add the garlic for 1-2 minutes at low-medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the crab and simmer for close to an hour until potatoes are soft and green beans just start to soften a bit. Add the crab for 5-10 minutes, and serve with a crusty bread. Very simple and easy, and oh so delicious. Like a taste of summer on the Eastern shore.

Crabs came from the Carolinas as they are not yet in season here, but as Mr. Fleming will testify I am sure, there doesn’t seem to be too much terroir in a crab, it more has to do with someone knowing how to cook them correctly. These were cooked perfectly by the kind folks at Steamers in Millville, DE.

A few pics…

Ingredients:

Mirepoix:

The Soup:

Dinner:

Really good, and very easily to replicate with a pound of fresh, good crab meat. Blasphemous as it sounds, I would imagine it might even be palatable with some Dungeness Recommendations here would be use the best crab available, ideally US from the Carolinas or Gulf of Mexico, and failing that, go for something good from the Northwest. Do yourself a favor though, do not buy canned crab from the Far East…

Also, most probably this will be better on the second day. Finally, for crab soup newbies, if after adding the Old Bay, it doesn’t taste seasoned enough, be patient. The flavors come through with a little time, and a little too much Old Bay is a lot too much. Great ingredient, but it is salty, so do not use too much. You can always add a little at the end if need be.

Cheers

I’m sure that was good and I was right with you until I saw that RED color.

I think my ideal crab soup is more along the lines of the classic she-crab soup.

Don’t the tomatoes get in the way a little?

I suppose I’m also a New England Clam Chowder guy, never understood the Manhattan style.

I too like creamy type chowders over tomato ones.

Without tomato, it wouldn’t be ‘Maryland’ crab soup.

Bob is correct of course, tomatoes are an integral part of Maryland crab soup. Don’t let the tomatoes fool you though, they take on a totally different aspect with the seasoning. The flavor profile is very different than a tomato based broth because of it. There is actually a lot of balance at play- the acidity of the tomatoes, the savory vegetables, the salt and heat from the spice, and the sweetness of the corn and crab. I have never had a she crab soup that I thought compared, but I am from Maryland and grew up on the stuff, so am quite biased of course. I also love cream of crab/crab bisque, but that is more of a cold weather dish, so Maryland crab it was with spring in the air. This is also one thing that I have never even seen on a menu outside of the area. Plenty of places you can find a bad imitation of crabcakes, but not this soup at least as far as I’ve seen.

Might have to try this for this week, I have some crappy Indonesian can crab laying around… I think I might be able to soak the stuff and the tomato might just hide . I know fresh is better, but I hate to waste food, and sounds like this stuff isn’t cake quality

Paul

Making this today… but I’m throttling back the old bay a bit!!

As I noted, add the Old Bay to taste! The real issue is that it is salty(A good percentage of the makeup is celery salt), so don’t add any salt initially, just season with old bay and adjust from there. Hope it turned out well for you.

it ain’t Maryland crab soup if it don’t have Maryland blue crab in it!! It’s just crab soup period end of story.

signed

resident of Maryland

Guess I just have to settle for Maine Crab Soup

ok ok I’m being crabby. Let’s settle for Maryland STYLE crab soup. I’ve eaten crab around the world and there is still nothing like the sweetness of Maryland blue crab. FYI, finally it looks like this will be an excellent crab year so enjoy as prices should be lower (I hope). The soft shells I’ve tried from MD were excellent, always a good sign.

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