MO’ECHE FRITTE

DEEP-FRIED SOFT-SHELL CRABS

Two kinds of small crabs are eaten in Venice, mo’eche and masanete. They are sold live and they’re easy to spot at the market because they won’t stay still! The mo’eche (pronounced ‘moe-ekkeh’) are the males, from the lagoon. During the moulting period (autumn and spring), they lose their shell and become soft. They are eaten deep-fried, just dipped in flour or ‘stuffed’, as in the recipe below. You eat them whole! Note that only 10%–15% of farmed crabs become mo’eche. This is why this rare dish is fairly expensive.

SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 15 MINUTES RESTING TIME: 2 HOURS

800 g (1 lb 12 oz) mo’eche (small soft-shell crabs)

4 eggs

50 g (1³/₄ oz) parmesan cheese, grated

Plain (all-purpose) flour

1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Wash the crabs well several times under running water. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the grated parmesan and add a pinch of salt. Add the crabs to the mix, stirring to coat well. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy-based saucepan to 180°C (350°F), or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil turns golden brown in 15 seconds. Drain the crabs, dip them in flour and deep-fry until they’re golden brown. Enjoy. It’s a good idea to remove the ends of their claws, which are less digestible, although almost nobody does!

VARIATION

The Venetians call the female mo’eche masanete. Autumn is the perfect season to eat them because it’s the moulting period and they’re full of coral. They aren’t eaten deep-fried like mo’eche, but boiled for 7 minutes and cooled in their cooking liquid. You need to remove their legs and abdominal wall. They’re dressed with olive oil and parsley and served with polenta.

NOTE

In Venice this recipe would be made with live crabs and after washing the crabs and making the egg and parmesan mixture as described above, you would submerge the crabs in the mixture, cover the bowl with a lid (or they’ll escape!), and leave for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The crabs will eat the egg mixture until they ‘drown’ in it.