Soft Shell Crab Roll Recipe {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

The most epic sushi roll of all time – a home made soft shell crab roll with avocado, cucumber and alfalfa sprouts. Low carb. No rice needed. Gluten Free and Dairy Free.

The soft shell crab roll is by far my all time favorite sushi roll. It is simply the best. I absolutely love love love it and have yet to find a place that makes a better spider roll than Fugakyu in Boston. Theirs is simply superb.

With each bit you get perfectly crisped up deep fried soft shell crab along with avocado, cucumber, etc. Dip that into wasabi flavored soy sauce and you’re in gastronomical heaven.

Seriously.

But it’s just not right to only be able to enjoy this culinary delight at a restaurant. There had to be a way I could make this myself at home.

A while back my dad and I had made a large soft shell crab purchase at a wholesale fish market in Boston (ie, we had about 50 soft shells crabs in the freezer) and normally I would just whip up a tempura batter and deep fry them.

While they are delicious this way I have found that the flavor of the soft shell crab is almost too strong, it is too flavorful. It needs to be somewhat diluted for you to be able to appreciate the depth and strength of the particular flavor. It’s almost too much to just eat deep fried soft shell crab (in my mind).

So I figured a rice-less sushi roll might not be such a bad idea.

I had made sushi rolls once in the past so I did already have the bamboo rolling mat and find of got the basic idea of the technique down, though to be fair you could actually make these without a proper sushi mat.

First step was dealing with the soft shell crabs. Somewhere online I had seen a video that you need to clean the crabs first. So after watching several more videos and attempting to clean the soft shells crabs I had, it took a few attempts to realize mine had already been cleaned.

No wonder I had no idea what the videos were talking about. All the parts that needs to be torn off had already been.

Then using an old recipe for tempura batter I dredged the crabs in the mix and deep fried them for 3-4 minutes per side. Lots of oil needed for this one. I used a small pot to minimize how much oil I would go through, and fried them two at a time. Taking shifts.

From there I chopped up avocados, cucumbers and grabbed some alfalfa sprouts — these would be my other main ingredients. Without any sushi rice I opted for a low carb roll this time around.

To make a soft shell crab roll, grab a sheet of seaweed, place it in front of you, top with avocado, cucumber, alfalfa and the soft shell crab (which I cut in half and put both halves next to eachother along the length of the seweed sheet). The key is to roll the seaweed up tightly – which is where the bamboo mat helps to keep everything firmly together. The result? A delightful soft shell crab roll with avocado, cucumber and alfalfa sprouts!

Hands down this soft shell crab roll is the most epic meal I have ever made. It is simply out of this world. Words cannot even describe how my entire face lit up once I had a first bite. I mean I just kept on frying the soft shells crabs and rolling up those rolls, and they were simply disappearing. I mean I think I can safely say my parents love me more now simply for preparing this meal for them.

The crunch of the hot and crispy soft shell crab roll is perfectly complemented with the creamy avocado, refreshing cucumber, sharp alfalfa and that familiar seaweed roll taste.

Seriously my all time favorite dinner meal. I cannot believe it has taken me so long to make my very own spider rolls at home. No need to wait for that once in a blue moon sushi restaurant splurge. Serve these super appetizing soft shell crab spider roll dipped into wasabi mixed gluten-free tamari drizzled with a sriracha mayo mix.

5 from 2 votes

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Soft Shell Crab Sushi Roll {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Total Time

38 mins

 

The most epic sushi roll of all time - a home made soft shell crab sushi roll with, avocados, cucumber and alfalfa sprouts. Low carb. No rice needed. Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Japanese

Servings: 4

Calories: 355 kcal

Author: Vicky Berman

Ingredients

• 8 soft shell crabs
• 2-3 avocados cut into long strips
• 2-3 small cucumbers peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 1 package alfalfa sprouts cut into smaller segments
• 8 seaweed sheets
• 1 egg yolk lightly beaten
• 1 cup iced water
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour plus more for coating
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ice water bath (fill larger bowl than the one that will be used for the batter with ice and some water)
• oil for deep frying
• gluten free tamari wasabi (optional) and spicy mayo (optional) for serving

Instructions

1. Place ice water in large bowl. Gradually pour beaten egg yolk into the ice water, stirring with chopsticks. Add flour, cornstarch and baking powder all at once, lightly mixing with chopsticks until ingredients are loosely combined. Batter should be runny and lumpy. Place batter bowl into larger ice bath bowl to keep it cold while frying.
2. Heat the oil (over medium/medium-high) in a small pot to 340 degrees F for seafood. (If you don't have a thermometer, test the oil by dropping a piece of batter into the hot oil - if it sinks and immediately rises to the top the oil is hot enough). There should be enough oil so that the soft shell crab is completely submerged.
3. Dip soft shell crabs first in flour in batter, and drop into hot oil. Depending on how large your pot is fry 2-3 at a time 3-4 minutes per side, flipping them over in the middle. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat for remaining soft shell crabs.
4. To make the rolls, place seaweed sheet in front of you, and on the lower 1/3 of the sheet layer avocado, cucumber, alfalfa and soft shell crab cut in half. Start rolling away from you, making sure to tightly hold everything together. Cut into six pieces with a sharp knife. Repeat for remaining ingredients.
5. (If you have a bamboo sushi rolling mat, cover it in plastic wrap and use that to make the rolls, placing the seaweed sheet on top, layering the ingredients and then rolling away from you, holding the roll tightly together).
6. Serve with gluten free tamari, wasabi and spicy mayo (mixture of mayo and Sriracha)

Nutrition Facts

Soft Shell Crab Sushi Roll {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 355 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Fat 22g34%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 49mg16%

Sodium 33mg1%

Potassium 759mg22%

Carbohydrates 37g12%

Fiber 9g38%

Sugar 3g3%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 580IU12%

Vitamin C 16.8mg20%

Calcium 74mg7%

Iron 1.7mg9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.