What Does Softshell Crab Taste Like? I'm Not A Huge Fan

If you're a seafood lover chances are you've probably heard of Softshell Crab. Maybe you've never had a chance to try it though.

I'm a huge seafood lover, and among seafood crab is probably one of my favorite treats. I actually prefer crab to lobster. That said I've never had a chance to try softshell crab.

For those of you who aren't familiar softshell crab is typically served either plain or as a sandwhich and the entire crab is fried and eaten; not just the legs and claws.

So what is softshell crab exactly? For a short period of time crabs shed their outer shell and are caught and eaten before they have a chance to regrow their shell.

I see a common question that comes up on Google, is what does softshell crab taste like?

I tried softshell crab yesterday at the Charleston Crab House in Charleston, South Carolina (pictured below)

Charleston Crab House - Charleston, SC

 Here's my take on softshell crab. I had a softshell crab sandwhich. To be honest I wasn't really crazy about it. First off, just wrapping your head around eating the entire crab can be off putting to some people. I'm not easily grossed out. I'm a huge seafood fan, I eat crab, lobster, sushi, all types of fish, shrimp, muscles, oysters and the like. That said I had a bit of a difficult time wrapping my head around eating an entire crab whole.

Softshell Crab Sandwhich

As for the flavor, taste and texture. The crab has a thick deep fried coating so that's a lot of the flavor and texture you get biting into the sandwhich. Many people wonder about the texture of the shell. I've heard it compared to a fried piece of rice paper. I would somewhat agree with that, there's a paper like thing the shell forms around the meat and I would compare it to fried rice paper, though a bit tougher to chew through. 

As for the taste, it does indeed taste like crab, however not like the crab legs your used to eating. It's hard to describe but it's not the same crab taste you get from eating crab legs. Crab legs are sweet and have a very clean taste. Dirty woudln't be the right word to describe softshell crab, but it's a much more fishy and earthy taste if that makes any sense. 

So what would I rate a softshell crab sandwhich on a scale of 1-10? I would probably rate softshell crab as a 6. It wasn't terrible, some people may actually enjoy it; just read online reviews, many people love softshell crab. Personally however I probably won't be having it again, I'm glad I got a chance to try it, but there's many things I would prefer over softshell crab. That's just my two cents.