soft shell crab trivia (you probably didn't want to know)
if you're ignorant like me, you probably thought the soft-shell crab was some special species that happened to have soft shells :P well, now that i think about it... it's kinda illogical if shells were meant to be protective huh... and if such crabs really did exist they prob would have been such easy preys that we wun even see them today? and so after i wikipediaed for soft shell crab 15 min ago after an interesting soft shell crab meal this afternoon, i realized that they are crabs that get cooked in the vulnerable few days after they molt their hard shells and before a new one is rebuilt! was rather dismayed upon discovering that's how they came about... sigh, i have to admit that i really like soft shell crabs... but now i'll feel guilty whenever i feel a craving and order some... i'll always be reminded of the devious tactics we humans can resort to in creating delicacies :( some things you rather you didn't know..... oh, and why i wikipediaed soft shell crabs today was cos being adventurous, i ordered a soft shell crab burger at this cafe in Changi today... and i was literally served a deep-fried-bread-crusted soft shell crab in a burger... (novelty soon disappeared; as soon as i realized that there are things in the main body i can eat, since shell is soft, but which i probably WUN want to) i dunno, i'm so used to seeing a 'disembodied' (i mean without the main body+shell) soft shell crabs in sushi that i forget these are full-bodied creatures, too. same goes for many things we eat, actually.
4 comments:
I LOVE the body of the soft-shell crabs - the most savoury part :) I wouldn't shed any tears over the crabs, though, since it's only a matter of timing about their deaths! Love from your hard-hearted, crab-eating friend
words well put from a crab-eating fan! though unadventurous me still has little desire whatsoever for 'the most savoury part'... well, true it's a matter of timing, but there's an added element of cruelty in how soft shell crabs come about... :(
I'm sorry, I don't really understand where the 'cruelty' element comes in; perhaps I misread your entry (or wikipedia). The fishermen simply set the crabs that are molting aside for a few days, no?
er... maybe i'm just weird. i just dun really like the idea of them being eaten in the few days during which they are extremely vulnerable... though i suppose it does make no difference in the end...:P
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