Whiskeyed Crab Soup

Mother Humble makes this soup every year for Christmas dinner. It is one of our Humble family traditions, along with making my brother (who cooks professionally) clean and shell crabs Christmas morning. Poor guy.

This is might be a somewhat eccentric Northwest addition to a typical holiday menu, but our local dungeness crab is delicious and quite possibly the best flavored crab on the planet. Anyone who disagrees with me can 'bring it' and we shall settle it mano a mano (or crabo a crabo) in the ring of crab combat!

(Mother Humble came over and dropped this enormous lump of crab into my soup when I was taking photos. She was clearly not impressed by my soup's 'little' crab meat garnish, as seen in the first photo.

Yup, that's my mom.)

Whiskeyed Crab Soup
Chandler's recipe taken from Recipezzar
Serves 6-8

Start by cleaning and shelling 2 1/2lbs of dungeness crabs (Or force a family member to do it). Reserve and refrigerate the meat for later and get to work on the stock with the shells.

Crab Stock
1 dungeness crab, shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup carrot, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup brandy or cognac
2 quarts cold water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried tarragon


Heat the olive oil in a heavy stockpot. Add the crab shells, carrot, onion and celery; brown lightly. Add brandy and ignite

(Burn fingers while trying to take photos of the flaming pot). When flames have expired, add the water, garlic, bay leaf, tarragon and tomato paste.

Bring stock to a low simmer for 2 to 3 hours and reduce to 1 quart. Strain through a fine sieve and refrigerate until ready to use.

Whiskeyed Crab Soup
1 quart crab stock
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
3 cups heavy cream
1/4 lemon
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons whiskey
1 tablespoon sherry wine
2 tablespoons butter
salt, to taste

Make a roux in a heavy saucepan by melting 4 ounces (1 stick) butter over medium heat. When foam subsides, add the flour all at once. Stir constantly, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring until it is blond-colored (about 5 minutes).

Add crab stock, cup by cup, whisking thoroughly after each addition. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, skim frequently. Add heavy cream, juice from the lemon, Tabasco, Worcestershire, Old Bay and white pepper. Bring back to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the whiskey, sherry, 2 tablespoons butter and the reserved crab meat; cook 1 minute to heat through. Salt to taste.

Sprinkle with a little Old Bay seasoning and serve immediately.