What Makes She Crab Soup Unique?

Everyone is familiar with soups like creamy broccoli-cheddar or French onion topped with Gruyère cheese, but there are some more regional soups that are definitely worthy of a spot at the dinner table. Prominent among these is she crab soup. Distinguished from the near-identical and much more widely-known crab bisque by the addition of salty, bright orange crab roe (eggs), she crab soup is something that you should definitely consider trying if you are in the right area of the American South.

The history of she crab soup originates in the South Carolina Lowcountry, and, today, it's still beloved around Charleston and as far south as Savannah, Georgia. History claims that the private chef to Charleston's mayor, R. Goodwyn Rhett, was the first to concoct the soup in the beginning of the 20th century. Adding crab roe to an otherwise ordinary crab bisque not only changed the texture, but it enhanced the color of the soup and gave an additional zing to the taste.

Traditionally, only female blue crabs were used in she crab soup — hence the name — since they carried the roe. The meat of the crab was used along with the eggs. Today, it is harder to source distinctly female crabs, as stores don't always distinguish the sex of crabs for sale, and sometimes different types of crab are used, depending on availability. She crab soup has evolved a bit, but it remains delicious and easy to make at home.

She crab soup is creamy, dreamy, and bright with the saline essence of the ocean. The soup's unctuous, velvety texture is usually the result of thickening with a rice starch, but you can also use a traditional flour-based roux. Besides the cream base, the crab, and the roe, recipes vary on what else to put in the soup. Some call for a mirepoix; others add red peppers as well. One very common finishing ingredient is a swirl of sherry to add a pop of flavor right at the end, after blending and straining for smoothness.

Picking the right crab meat is important to making a good she crab soup. Fresh crab is generally found from March to November. Other times of year may necessitate using imitation crab (which is actually made of fish). There are different grades to the quality of crab meat; "jumbo lump" or "lump" crab will have the sweetest, cleanest flavor.

Modern prohibitions on collecting the crab roe can make this crucial ingredient harder but not impossible to source. In the 1950s a Junior League cookbook suggested substituting crumbled hard-boiled egg yolk, though that seems dubious, considering that the roe is the star of the soup. Your best bet is probably crab roe bought in pouches online.

Add some crusty bread or homemade biscuits — this is a Southern dish, after all! — with a simple salad, and you have dinner ready to go.