She-Crab Soup (She-crab soup)

Name: She-Crab Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 400 g blue crab meat; 2 tbsp crab roe or 2 crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks; 40 g butter, 30 g flour; 500 ml milk, 250 ml cream, 250 ml fish stock; 1 small onion, finely grated; pinch of mace, Worcestershire sauce, 4 tbsp dry sherry

Overview

She-crab soup is a rich, creamy crab soup from Charleston, South Carolina. Lumps of blue crab meat and the bright orange roe of female crabs are cooked in a light roux with milk, cream and fish stock, seasoned with onion, mace or nutmeg and a little Worcestershire sauce. Dry sherry is stirred in or added at the table. The roe gives the soup a deeper flavour and a soft orange colour. It is typically served as a starter, in small cups or bowls, and is found in many restaurants in Charleston and Savannah.

History

Charleston tradition credits William Deas, a cook and butler for Mayor Robert Goodwyn Rhett, with creating the dish in the early 1900s by adding crab roe to an older crab soup to impress a visiting guest, often said to be President William Howard Taft. It is now a fixture on Charleston and Lowcountry menus. Harvesting egg-bearing female crabs is restricted, so many cooks now use crumbled hard-boiled egg yolk instead of roe.

Main ingredients

Blue crab meat, crab roe, cream, dry sherry, onion, mace. The soup is built on milk and fish stock and is usually served hot. Diet: pescatarian; not usually gluten-free.

Explore: Fish and seafood soups · More soups from United States

Recipe outline serves 4 · ~50 min

Ingredients

400 g blue crab meat
2 tbsp crab roe or 2 crumbled hard-boiled egg yolks
40 g butter, 30 g flour
500 ml milk, 250 ml cream, 250 ml fish stock
1 small onion, finely grated
pinch of mace, Worcestershire sauce, 4 tbsp dry sherry

Allergens: Contains: Gluten, Crustaceans, Eggs, Fish, Milk, Sulphites. Based on the typical recipe. Recipes and products vary; always check labels if you have an allergy.