Southport Magazine

Understanding how soft-shell crabs are processed
Story and Photos by Claudia O’Neill
As we drove down the quarter-mile dirt road, lined with colorful crab pots and old wooden boats, I gained a real sense of excitement. This story was going to be my first job as an intern at Southport Magazine. Stephen Phipps, the owner and Executive Chef at Mr. P’s Bistro offered Kris Beasley and myself the opportunity to join him in picking up 36 fresh soft-shell crabs for his restaurant. He recently found a family-owned and operated seafood wholesaler located just along the Cape Fear River who can provide the restaurant with delicious soft-shell crabs all year long.

Kris and I pulled up to Mr. P’s Bistro around eleven o’clock in the morning to ride with Chef Stephen in his truck. I hopped in the back with Kris’s camera in my hand and began playing with the lighting and adjusting the settings so that the photos would look perfect for the article. The ride took about 45 minutes to downtown Wilmington, where along the way we stopped for lunch at one of Chef Stephen’s favorite burger places, Winnie’s Tavern. The place was a small white and blue building just off of the main road and was known to have Wilmington’s best burgers around. We each got our own variation of a delicious mini burger and then continued on our way to Ingraham’s Crab House.
We made a right down Purl B. Ingraham Road, named after the owner’s father, where numerous houses, boats, and crab pots directed us to the end of the driveway where a pier jetted out over the river. As we pulled up, I saw Connie and Luke Ingraham sitting underneath the shaded crab house enjoying a large slice of watermelon with some friends and local fishermen. An old, wooden sign hanging over the entrance caught my eye. In big letters it read, “Ingrahams Crab House,” “Capt. Purl Owner.” We hopped out of the truck and Chef Stephen introduced us to the Ingrahams, whose smiles were friendly and welcoming. Right away I smelt the salt water and live crabs, directing my body to walk towards the woodshed, where six large peeler tanks were held.
With eyes wide and a grin on my face, I stepped onto the wooden plank and leaned over the first tank I saw. In the shallow water were dozens of blue crabs, ranging from small to large in size. I wanted to reach my hand in, but was afraid of getting pinched. Mr. Ingraham quickly came to my side and picked out the largest crab in the whole tank. The crab had massive blue pincers and looked quite different from the rest. Mr. Ingraham explained to me that 95% of soft-shell crabs are females and that the one he had squirming in his hand was a larger male blue crab. “How can you tell the difference between the males and the females?” I asked eagerly. Mr. Ingraham smiled and flipped the male crab over in his hands. Underneath was an “apron,” which is a flap that indicates the sex of the crab. Male blue crabs, known as “Jimmies,” have a long, pointy apron like the one shown in the photo. They also have big blue pincers, whereas the females have red. He placed the male crab back into the tank and grabbed two more, smaller sized females. He flipped them both over and I found myself in slight confusion; the two female crabs had different shaped aprons. Similar to humans, there are immature, or adolescent, female crabs and then there are mature, adult crabs. The immature females had a V-shaped apron, which could not open until she peeled her hard shell and was ready to mate. The mature female crabs, however, had a U-shaped apron, which could open to mate and in the future, carry eggs.
Intrigued, and interested to hear more, I asked Mr. Ingraham about how he got into the crab business. He told me that his father was a crab fisherman all his life and taught him everything he knows. He is the second youngest child out of six siblings and is the only one to carry on the crabbing tradition. He and his wife have been in the crabbing industry for 40 years now. I looked around to take in what the Ingrahams had accomplished, when all of a sudden Mr. Ingraham motioned me to look his way. In his hand was a female peeler crab, coming out of her hard-shell. Kris and I looked at one another with fascination in our eyes and leaned in to get a closer look. Curiously, I reached my hand forward and rubbed over the newly exposed soft-shell. My jaw dropped slightly as Mr. Ingraham mumbled, “soft as a pillow.” I couldn’t believe the difference in texture between the two shells on the crab’s body. Mr. Ingraham informed us that blue crabs peel their hard shells every week and double in size when they come out. This is one major reason why the crabbing business is such hard work; Mr. and Mrs. Ingraham check on the crabs every hour to two hours. The reason for this is because once a crab is out of it’s hard-shell, they’ll quickly start developing a paper shell, which only takes them roughly eight hours to become fully hard again. As soon as the crabs are out of their shells, they are taken to the refrigerator to be distributed to a wholesaler, like Mr. P’s Bistro.
To my right, Chef Stephen leaned up against one of the peeler tanks. He was enjoying a large slice of watermelon that Mrs. Ingraham had so generously offered him. She told Kris and I that she and her husband start their morning every day at four so that they can get out onto the river to check on the crab pots from the night before. They are outside all day and do not end their workday until ten o’clock every night. They said that the best way to catch the most crabs is to put a male in each pot to attract the females who are ready to mate or are looking for protection. I nodded and slowly glanced out toward the river, where I spotted the white, wooden boat they take out every morning and evening to catch the blue crabs. The dock was long and I could see now that there were about 20 more peeler tanks along the side of the crab house and hundreds of colorful crab pots sitting by the waterside. I took the view in with a deep breath and admired the work of the Ingrahams. They informed us that the lot they were currently on was bare when Mr. Ingraham’s father, Purl, bought it years ago. And now, standing here on their beautiful dock, they are known as the biggest soft-shell crab wholesaler in New Hanover County.
They took us back through the crab house where we said hello to the other fishermen talking and enjoying some nice cold sodas on this hot day. They were concerned about the heat and how it’s expected to be getting worse over the next few weeks. I imagined how hot they would be working everyday from dawn till dusk for the remaining of the summer. We made our way towards the truck as Chef Stephen grabbed his two boxes of live, soft-shell crabs, all lined up in perfect rows. I thanked the Ingrahams for taking the time to teach Kris and me about the soft-shell crabs as I climbed back into Chef Stephen’s truck. I “wooed” at feeling the air conditioning kick on as we pulled off of the dirt road and on to the two-lane pavemented street. I felt like I had so many more questions I wanted to ask, but fortunately, the fun for the day was not over yet.
Within 45 minutes we were back at Mr. P’s Bistro, ready to watch Chef Stephen cook up some delicious soft-shell crabs for Kris and me. We entered the kitchen, where Chef Stephen and his team put in hours of hard work into creating delightful and fresh, low country cuisines for their guests. With just an hour and a half until the restaurant opened, Chef Stephen put on his apron and began doing what he loves most. With a handful of ingredients, he explained to Kris and me the process of creating two exceptional ways to enjoy soft-shell crabs, as we had never had one before. The first dish was a sautéed, soft-shell crab on a bed of spinach, topped with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and seasoned with balsamic vinaigrette. This one was my personal favorite, while Kris really enjoyed the fried soft-shell crab, which was paired by a Cajun corn maque choux and topped with some micro greens. As Chef Stephen placed both entrées onto the table, I did not hesitate to cut right into the soft-shelled crabs, eating the entire thing from its crunchy claws to its meat-filled body.
After leaving Mr. P’s Bistro with a full stomach, a dozen of Chef Stephen’s fresh eggs, and a slice of lemon-blueberry cheesecake, I felt extremely blessed to have experienced everything that I had in just one day. From the ocean to the dock to the dinner plate, both the Ingrahams and Chef Stephen have worked long and hard to create the success that they have achieved by delivering premium soft-shell crabs and creating exceptional entrées for the people of Southport. I really admire Chef Stephen’s commitment in driving to Wilmington twice a week to offer his customers a unique dinning experience, providing only the best and freshest soft-shelled crabs among the many other seafood options at Mr. P’s Bistro. This magical experience made the crabs taste that much better and I can confirm that there are no other soft-shell crabs like these anywhere else down in the south.
If you would like to enjoy the full experience of Chef Stephen cooking the soft-shell crab entrées, a video is available on our website at: http://www.southportmag.com.
VIDEO LINK HERE