Fried Soft Shell Crab with Simple Tomato Sauce

It's soft shell crab season, and I couldn't be more excited! Since Father's Day is tomorrow, I'm sure that Papa would have loved this dish, being a huge seafood lover like myself. In fact, maybe that's where I get it from? This guy even eats the green stuff inside large crabs that no one else in the family wants - we leave it for him because we know he will clean that baby out like nobody's business. Anyway, if I were back in California, I would've made this dish for him, but since I'm not, I'm just glad that he got to enjoy not one but three delicious Father's Day meals on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday. Boy was he excited to tell me about all the delicious things he ate, such as live rock cod and ox tail in Japanese pumpkin and red wine sauce (except he spelled it "source" in the email - hahaha sometimes Papa has NO idea how funny he is!).

Soft shell crab is a bit harder to find than shrimp, prawns, and even lobster, but if you do find them, you MUST get the live version because the frozen kind isn't nearly as flavorful. Thankfully, there were live soft shell crabs at the Union Square Farmer's Market today! I paired this version of panfried soft shell crab, with a simple tomato sauce that is thick, sweet, and packed with tomato flavor. It's a versatile tomato sauce that can go equally well with other kinds of seafood such as mussels, with pasta dishes, for a pizza sauce, or for a dipping sauce for fried calamari. If you do use it for pizza, use the sauce cold or the crust will be compromised. You can also add chopped capers, olives, hot pepper, and anchovies at the end of cooking to give it a special twist. This time I only added arugula, because sometimes simple foods are the most delicious, don't you think? You get to appreciate the purity and flavor of each of the ingredients that way.

Fried Soft Shell Crab with Simple Tomato Sauce Adapted from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Café Cookbook Ingredients: Soft Shell Crabs • 6 live soft shell crabs • extra-virgin olive oil • ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste • ½ teaspoon black pepper, or more to taste • 1½ teaspoon paprika • ½ teaspoon cayenne (optional) • 2 teaspoons garlic powder • 6 tablespoons hot brown rice cereal Simple Tomato Sauce • 2 pounds sweet, ripe greenhouse tomatoes, washed, chopped, and seeded • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed through a garlic press • 1 large red onion, diced • 1 teaspoon salt • Bouquet garni of parsley, thyme, and basil sprigs Directions: 1. Remove the carapace and lungs of each soft shell crab and rinse with cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel and squeeze out excess water (soft shell crabs are water heavy). Sprinkle salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and hot brown rice cereal evenly on each crab. 2. Pan fry each crab in extra-virgin olive oil over medium high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, flipping them over once to make sure they brown on both sides. 3. Tomato sauce: Warm the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and let it sizzle for half a minute. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and salt, and add the herb sprigs. 4. Bring the sauce to a boil. Then turn down the heat to low and cook for 30 to 45 minutes at steady simmer, or until the fat floats free from the tomato and the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. 5. Taste the sauce and add more salt, if necessary.