Until right when you said that, I thought the same thing all these years. Now I actually will eat one
Soft-shell crab is a
culinary term for
crabs that have recently
molted their old
exoskeleton and are still soft.
[1] Soft-shells are removed from the water as soon as they molt to prevent any hardening of their shell.
[2] This means that almost the entire animal can be eaten, rather than having to shell the animal to reach the meat.
[3] The exceptions are the
mouthparts, the
gills and the
abdominal cover, which, though edible when shells are very soft, are usually discarded ("cleaned").
[4] The remaining, edible part of the crab is typically
deep fried or
sautéed.
[3]