Step 1 - Heat a large heavy bottom pot, add your butter.

Step 2- Add onions,  paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pot. (reduce to a medium heat)

Step 3- Once the onions have turned translucent, add your tomato paste and stir.

Step 4- Now add your water or broth along with your shells and your bay leaf (wrapped in a cheese cloth). Bring the pot to a boil. (allow to simmer for about 30 minutes)

Step 5- Taste your base, at this point it should have a smooth warm seafoody flavor. If it's lacking in flavor add some more fish and oyster sauce (not too much).

Step 6- At this point you can opt to transfer all the ingredients (except the shells and bay leaf) to a blender and blend it smooth. Or you can strain your soup so there's no random bits floating around. If you do plan on blending, I like to throw a little bit of the crab meat in at this point (just about 2 tbsp.) to give it a good flavor.

Step 7- Transfer your liquids back to the pot, now add your crab meat and old bay, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Step 8 - Now add your heavy cream, slowly stirring as you pour it in, bring the heat down to low. If you prefer it to be less creamy, just add less cream. If you want to make it non-dairy but still want it to be creamy, use coconut milk instead. The key is not heating the soup so high that the fat denatures and separates.

Step 9 - Taste your soup, it should have a velvety texture with a nice rich seafood flavor.

Enjoy!