Ekiben’s Newest Sando is an Ode to Maryland Soft Shells

Look, everyone in Maryland loves crab cakes. And most of us love soft-shell crabs, too. They’re both delicious local dishes served in a variety of ways, from Thai soft-shell crab curry to crab cake BLTs. But no culinary genius has ever considered combining them—until now.

Enter Ekiben’s Maryland Softie sandwich. It’s a sandwich so unique, it has a huge fan following on social media. (Even our governor was recently spotting digging into one, proclaiming, “This is such a good bite.”)

The Softie is an epic two-handed affair—a deep-fried soft-shell crab topped with cheddar cheese, a dousing of remoulade, a hit of Old Bay, and, yes, a massive crab cake, all stuffed inside a house-made steamed bao bun.

“It’s quintessential Maryland,” says Ekiben co-owner Steve Chu. “The only thing that would make it more Maryland is if we had Natty Boh on the side.”

The belly-busting extravaganza, which is only available at the Locust Point location, often sells out within minutes—and for good reason.

“We only use live soft-shell crabs we get straight from our crabber,” says Chu. “It has a lot of meat inside and it’s juicy and briny and sweet. People have a lot of opinions about crabmeat and where it comes from, but the one thing that’s undisputed is that the closer you source your soft-shells, the better they are—ours are local.”

Soft-shells, says Chu, are an underrated gem in the Old Line State.

“Everyone talks about how good our crabs are, but we undersell how incredible our soft-shells are,” he says. “You can get blue crabs from Texas to Louisiana to the Carolinas to Maryland, but what makes our crabs so special is the brackish water—that’s what makes the crab so sweet.”

Depending on the year, soft-shells are generally available from late April through fall, though for Chu, the season starts “when the crabbers call.”

“You talk about farm-to-table,” he says of the creation, “we’re going from Bay-to-box.”