Blue Crab Bisque

Name: Blue Crab Bisque (Bisque de Crabe)
Yield: makes 10 servings
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1 medium-size onion, chopped; 1 medium-size carrot, peeled and chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 12 live blue crabs, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces each; 1½ pounds [675 g] tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or 1 can (28 ounces [800 g]) whole tomatoes, seeds squeezed out; 1½ pounds [675 g] tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or 1 can (28 ounces [800 g]) whole tomatoes, seeds squeezed out; 1 cup [250 ml] dry white wine; 1 small bouquet garni; 6 cups chicken broth; 1 cup [250 ml] heavy cream; ¾ cups [75 g] cooked rice (you’ll need to boil ¼ cup/60 g of raw rice), or 3 slices white bread, crusts removed; ¾ cups [75 g] cooked rice (you’ll need to boil ¼ cup/60 g of raw rice), or 3 slices white bread, crusts removed; ¾ cups [75 g] cooked rice (you’ll need to boil ¼ cup/60 g of raw rice), or 3 slices white bread, crusts removed; ¾ cups [75 g] cooked rice (you’ll need to boil ¼ cup/60 g of raw rice), or 3 slices white bread, crusts removed; ½ pound [225 g] crabmeat, picked through for shells (optional); ½ pound [225 g] crabmeat, picked through for shells (optional); 4 tablespoons Crustacean Butter or unsalted butter; 4 tablespoons Crustacean Butter or unsalted butter; ⅓ cup [75 ml] Cognac; salt; pepper

Bisque de Crabe

Preparation info

makes
10
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Glorious French Food

By James Peterson

Published 2002

About

I make this crab bisque because blue crabs are relatively cheap in New York and I love their flavor but hate trying to pick out the meat. If you can’t find blue crabs, the recipe will work with the shells from lobster, crayfish, or shrimp (ideally, with their heads, which contain most of the flavor). Don’t try to make this soup with Dungeness crab—the shells are too hard.

Ingredients

Americas
Europe
France
United States
Fish course
New York
Soup
Mediterranean
Gluten-free

Ingredients

Method