Canned She Crab Soup

1 pound lump crabmeat divided. 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Why Some Recipes Call For She Crabs

You can order she-crab soup as well as crab.

Canned she crab soup. 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. 2 teaspoons paprika. Thicken the soup with cream and top with egg yolk tobiko -- flying fish roe -- or tinned crab roe from your local Asian market.

Salt and pepper to taste. 1 pinch cayenne pepper. ¼ cup roe preferably crab optional for garnish.

To make your own version of Charlestons famous she-crab soup combine crabmeat fish stock celery shallots and sherry. The canned version is extrordinarily savory tart and more resonant perhaps of Creole cooking than of the well-bred Charleston table. Water Crab meat Potatoes Calcium chloride Calcium disodium EDTA Celery Onion Tomato paste Peas Green beans Carrots Corn Lima beans Lobster base Cooked lobster Salt Maltodextrin from corn Natural flavoring Yeast extract Modified corn starch Butter Cream Salt Sugar Rice flour Tomato paste Paprika Disodium inosinate Disodium guanylate Salt Salt Yellow prussiate of soda.

French bread optional for serving. 2 tablespoons chopped chives.