Soft-shell Crab with Sparkling White Wine Butter Sauce

I bought a box of frozen softshell crabs without having actually cooked one before in early December.  I finally opened the box of goodies New Year's Eve and created one of the tastiest lunch I've ever made adapted from Emeril's Sauteed Soft-shell Crabs with Garlic and Butter. 

Here's my version. 

Ingredients

Soft-shell Crab:

6 soft-shell crabs (defrosted if frozen & trimmed of inedible parts (lungs, sacs, etc.)

1/2 cup flour

Cajun seasoning

salt & pepper

vegetable oil

Sauce:

1/2 cup sparkling white wine or champagne

juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon

capers

1 shallot (minced)

1 Tbsp melted butter

Heat a small pot (I didn't want oil to splatter all over the kitchen so I opted not to use a fry pan) on medium low heat with enough vegetable oil to cover the top of a soft-shell crab.  Mix the flour, Cajun seasoning, and pepper in a deep dish plate.  Wash the crabs and make sure to pat them dry.  Sprinkle the crabs with just a tiny bit of salt on both sides then dust each with the flour mixture. 

Washed soft-shell crabs; flour seasoned with Cajun seasoning and pepper

Dredging the crab in seasoned flour

Test the oil by throwing in a piece of minced shallot.  If the oil bubbles around it, then gently put in the first crab into the oil.  Fry for about 5 minutes on each side then put the crab on paper towel to rid the excess oil.  If you have a bigger pot, use medium high heat to cook multiple crabs together rather than one-by-one.

Frying a soft-shell crab on both sides

Heat a small sauce pan on medium low heat and pour in the melted butter.  Once the butter is heated, sauté the shallots until tender.  Add capers, stir, add wine, and cover and let simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Add lemon/lime juice and let it simmer uncovered for another 2 minutes.

Sautéing the shallots until tender; Capers added before pouring in wine

I served the soft-shell crabs on Thai mint rice (Archer Farms boxed rice from Target) and spooned the sauce over the crabs and rice with a side of Thai-style cucumber pineapple mint salad.

Soft-shell Crab with Sparkling White Wine Butter Sauce

Soft-shell Crab with Thai Mint Rice and Cucumber Pineapple Mint Salad