I have seen them frozen and they usually have some sort of preservative, I tried them once, the operative word is once.
Last year we had a surplus and we cleaned and froze a couple, did not work, so to answer your question succinctly, no.
Soft shells are among the most delicate of seafood, if you cannot detect movement, I don't purchase as experience over the years is that once they die, they spoil quickly. I also use the sniff test from about a cm, if anything but clean smelling, no sale. Note: if kept at 36F or so, they will have to warm up before movement is detected. Keeping directly on ice will kill them.-Dick

I sooooo hate you Gary!

But I won't gainsay you your enjoyment (that would be mean and nasty!
: ) There's no chance to find soft-shells in either upstate NY or in Montréal. Sigh.

Enjoy!

Geo

Geo,

That really surprises me, considering how much closer to the ocean you are than us. We're swimming in them here. It seems to be a particularly good year for soft shells around here. I'm surprised that none have made their way to upper New York state, at least.

Steve,

Upstate NY has absolutely *nothing*, food-wise (except "Michigans", the local version of conies). There is not one, single ethnic food store, not even a Jewish deli, between the border and Albany on the NY side. The biggest and best supermarket in this same region's fish counter has, for fresh fish, only tilapia and salmon. Everything else is frozen. We can get frozen snow and red crabs, that's it.

Ten miles away, in Vermont, there's every kind of ethnic grocery you can imagine, even Mittel European. But that's a ferry ride.

What we've discovered is that upstate NY, north of the resorts around Sarasota Springs are, in plain point of fact, the northernmost extent of Appalachia, with all the plusses (except no music) and minuses that entails.

Montréal is its own story. Crab is not big, except for seasonal fresh snows from the Gulf of St-Lawrence. But nothing else, strangely enough. On the other hand, lobster and every kind of shellfish from the Gulf is everywhere abundant, as is a terrific range of fresh fish, gorgeous stuff, even in your neighborhood IGA.

So the lack of crab diversity is obviously a strictly cultural thing, linked to the Québeçoise perspective, and not to availabiliity.

Unfortunate bottom line: it's waaay easier to get a soft shell crab in Kansas City than it is in the North Country.

Sigh....

Geo

Soft shell crab $5 per at Dirk's Fish. The brides favorite. Happy wife, happy life.



Dirk's, Count me a Fan!

Dirk's Fish
2070 N Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614

Made the yearly trek to Dirk’s for soft shells yesterday.
Ordered ahead and got a mix of Hotels and Mediums(really small).
They came in Thursday. Next year I’m going down on the day they come in.
Also purchased some very nice Virginia oysters.
Traffic wasn’t too bad going down the Eden’s but we stopped at Fresh Farms Touhy on the way back and went over to 294 where traffic came to a stop right at Lake-Cook.
Detoured around to Half Day.
Anyway soft shells were superb as always!-Richard

Anyone know who is selling soft shells right now in the North, Northwest Burbs?