We spent Christmas in 2023 with our family in Charleston. Judy's sister-in-law told her that we needed to try she-crab soup. She said that whenever she had a meal in South Carolina, she ordered she-crab soup as an appetizer.
Most of our meals in Charleston were with our family, cooking together in an Airbnb rental. The restaurant meals with our family were at restaurants with broad menus because a number of our family members are vegan or vegetarians. However, our last day in Charleston Judy and I had some time alone and decided to try and find a restaurant that served she-crab soup.
We visited the Crab Shack in West Ashley (there are two others, in Folly Beach and Coosaw Creek) and had a wonderful experience. The interior is fun and inviting.
First, we each got a bowl of she-crab soup. I originally thought it was too much, that we should share a bowl, but after tasting it we did it just right. The she-crab soup was probably the thickest soup I've ever tried, reminiscent of thick clam chowder, but thicker. It had some small pieces of crab and a couple of little bits of crab shell, but it was just mostly thick and rich with the smell of crab and a little bit of a sweet taste. She-crab soup is a regional specialty of the South Carolina Low Country (the region along the coast of South Carolina). It is traditionally made of milk or heavy cream, crab or fish stock, Atlantic blue crab meat, (traditionally crab roe) and a small amount of dry sherry as it is plated. It is named after the female crab because the orange crab roe was a chief ingredient in the traditional soup. Some places, such as Maryland, have outlawed the taking of female crabs, to preserve them. I don't know whether our she-crab soup had roe or not. It was the best soup I've ever tasted.
We shared an appetizer of steamed mussels, called Shacktacular mussels, in a parmesan scampi cream sauce. I've never had any mussels like it and have mixed feelings about it. Looking at a recipe for creamy parmesan garlic shrimp pasta, I see that it has a cup of heavy cream, a half-cup of parmesan cheese, a half-cup of chicken broth and much smaller portions of other ingredients. This recipe must be similar to the base for the mussels. It was very creamy, which is not evident in the photo, and had too large pieces of toast that were crispy and buttery, great for soaking up the rich creamy sauce. And that part was fantastic. However, I love mussels, and the mussels were overwhelmed by the cream. For mussels, I prefer a more traditional white wine sauce that features the mussels, instead of the cream sauce. I would have liked it better with shrimp.
Judy got shrimp and grits with tasso gravy and cheeses. I'd never heard of tasso before. Tasso ham is a spicy, dry, smoked pork made from the ham. It adds a smoky, spicy and salty taste and is a great seasoning addition. I'm not sure what other ingredients it had, but it was complex, thick and highly flavored. In short, it was wonderful. Judy said best grits she's ever had. Note the photo, you can't even see the grits under the pile of other ingredients.
I got an oyster poh boy which I think was a special for the day, not on the regular menu. I'm a sucker for oyster poh boys. I had one at the Deep End Cafe in Newport, Oregon about eight years ago, which I loved, and I've been trying to find one that even approaches it ever since. This did not meet that standard, but is probably the best one I've had since then. The oysters were cooked right, crunchy, but still moist and flavorful inside, had lettuce and tomato and I got a remoulade sauce and tarter sauce to try as the inside sauce and preferred the remoulade. It did not live up to the other dishes, but was still decent.
Overall, I would love to go back to Crab Shack and try some other dishes (but would always have a bowl of she-crab soup).
The she-crab soup is the new standard for regional soups. I doubt it will ever be beaten in our travels. It was amazing, as was the shrimp and grits.
ReplyDelete