Charleston She Crab Soup - Try It

Charleston she crab soup (http://www.gullahgourmet.com/) is considered to be the signature dish of Charleston South Carolina, and is regularly featured on the menus of many of the city's restaurants. A signature dish is a recipe which helps to identify an individual chef. It is also sometimes used to refer to a culinary region.

The soup is named after the 'She-Crab', or female crab, which supplies the flavorful orange roe, or eggs, that consist of a chief ingredient in the soup. A culinary icon of Charleston, South Carolina, the Charleston she crab soup was conventionally a rich combination of cream, crab meat, roe (eggs), and a splash of sherry. The meat from a female crab is supposed to be sweeter, but it was the addition of her red-orange roe that created the dish's depth of flavor and beautiful pale color and that resulted in the name she crab soup.

Roe is no longer gathered as an effort to preserve the ecological system and keep a strong number of crabs. You may wonder if it is still soup if there is no foe in the Charleston she crab soup. Of course it is as the main recipe is the same. Whenever it is possible, however, you should make this using roe and enjoy every bite. There will be some changes, but a true southerner will know the basic ingredients are the same.

Fresh crab meat is very essential. For all of you who can catch your own crabs, you will need about a dozen. If you take out the shell of the female crab and discover what looks like a mass of tiny red-orange beads inside, then you are lucky since it is roe. Try to remove it carefully. Stir it into the soup along with the crab meat. You should take care to see that the female crabs with roe on the outside must be returned to the water.

The onions, garlic and celery need to be cooked in a heavy bottom medium sized sauce pain with some olive oil until they are clear. The next step is to deglaze the pan using sherry followed by the crab roe, bay leaf and shellfish stock. When that is done, get it to a slow simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add milk and simmer for about 15 minutes. After that add the rice while soup is at a slow simmer and cook the rice until it is soft. When the rice has softened add the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mace. Remove bay leaf and puree mixture inside blender. When soup becomes smooth and thick, strain it through a fine sieve. Add the crab meat and spice it with salt and pepper.

In order to make the best she crab soup (http://www.gullahgourmet.com/), you need to start with quality ingredients, including quality crab meat. It is not worth it to purchase cheap special meat or lump because when you take the shells out it will just be mushy. Use crab roe sparingly, as it can be salty. Secure in a sealed freezer bag and it will store well in the freezer.

About The Author The signature dish of Charleston, South Carolina is Charleston she crab soup (http://www.gullahgourmet.com/). The soup is named after the 'She-Crab', or female crab, which supplies the flavorful orange roe, or eggs, that consist of a chief ingredient in the soup. A culinary icon of Charleston, South Carolina, she crab soup was conventionally a rich combination of cream, crab meat, roe (eggs), and a splash of sherry. If you want to end up with the best she crab soup (http://www.gullahgourmet.com/), you have to be certain to use the finest crab meat. You shouldn't even bother shelling the inexpensive sort or lump since it is always too soft.