Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sweet and Sour Crab

Let skip a CNY cookie posting today and post this dish that I cooked some time ago. Diana and I love our seafood. Be it fish, shrimps, squid, clams and crabs. When she comes home I will usually try to cook her favorite dish. We don’t eat crab often as it is not easily available at our small Asian grocery store here and also I don’t really like to deal with live crabs. So happen I saw them selling it not too long ago and I grab half a dozen of it. There is not much meat on this type of blue crab but they do have a lot of roe on it which we like. I like cooking it this way with plenty of spicy, sweet and sour sauce so we can mop it all up with some mantau (Chinese Steamed Bread) Eating crab is a messy affairs but we were completely satisfied with it.

Ingredients:

6 blue crabs
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 large red chili – finely chopped
2 spring onions – cut into 1” length
1 egg - beaten


Sauce:

3 tbsp of tomato ketchup
3 tbsp of sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp of vinegar
1 tbsp of sugar
½ tsp of corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of chicken stock

1. Wash and scrub the shell of the crabs well. Remove the shell, rinse well under cold running water, and remove the gills and inner parts. Remove the claws. Using a large cleaver, cut the crabs into half and crack the claws. Set it aside.
2. Mix all the sauce ingredients and set it aside. Heat up the wok, add in about 2 tbsp of olive oil, and add in garlic, chili and ginger and stir fry until lightly brown and fragrant.
3. Add in the crabs, continue to toss and turn until the crab shells turn into pinkish color. Add in the sauce, stir well and bring it up to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat to medium and let it simmer for 5 - 6 minutes. Continue to stir until the crab is cooked and sauce thickens.
4. Add in a bit of more stock if necessary. Drizzle in the egg, give it a quick stir and turn off the heat. Add in the spring onions, dish out and serve immediately.

I am entering this post in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

15 comments:

WendyinKK said...

When I was a kid, this was my favourite way with crab, but as I grew older, I turned to other ways like roasted or spicy ones.
But then having this once a while really does bring back memories as my FIL loves to order this if we ever go for crab.
BTW, it's been 2 years since I had some crab. Craving now!!!!

Lisa H. said...

I prefer this sweet sour crab to the dried curry ones... and to clean the platter with deep fried mantou is sinful but heavenly... :D

Shereen said...

The crab look so good,Gert.I have never cook crab before..the thought of wrestling with one,makes me shudder.I like marmite crab but am drooling looking at yours now..lol.

busygran said...

I love crabs cooked any way especially with lots of black pepper! And I also love what I'm looking at now 'cos these blue crabs are 'sweeter' than the mud crabs!

ReeseKitchen said...

Hey Gert, I just had crabs for dinner just now, then you posted one..haha! I LOVE crabs...of course I ate alot...yummy no matter how it cooks..;p
Yours look tempting!!

lena said...

one of my favourite dish. i always have crabs over here, they just too delicious even justwith a simple stir fry!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Delicious! I loved crab!

pigpigscorner said...

This is definitely one of my favourites of eating crabs. So appetising!

Bakericious said...

I love crab, looks so yummy!

MaryMoh said...

Mmmm...I love this dish though eating crabs is always a challenge. I once bought crabs here to cook. My gosh...it was a real tough job trying to kill it, clean it and cook it. Worse, no one liked it because it was too difficult to eat. I told myself I will never buy Scottish crabs again. They are so different from crabs back home. I think the cold weather makes their shells thick and hard...haha

Elin said...

Salivating now ....you make me want to cook crabs this style. We love crabs and other seafood too. Yours look great.here I am wishing I could eat this more often ;)

ICook4Fun said...

Wendy, I too like crab cook in other style. Over here in the restaurant they normally cook it this style or just with salt and pepper. I miss our Malaysian crab :)

Lisa, yes I like this with bread or mantou.

Shereen, oh yea it is not fun to wrestle with live crab. But this one is small enough for me to handle :)

Busygran, this type of blue crabs have a lot of roe on it that is why we like it.

Reese, lucky you. Can just go and eat at the restaurant. We have to go out and eat crab together when I am home :)

Lena, yea plenty of it in Malaysia.

LCOM, me too.

Pigpigscorner, thanks.

Jess, thanks.

Mary, ha ha yea. These blue crabs are easier to handles as the shells are softer and they are smaller too :)

Elin, I know you like crab. We have to go makan makan with Reese when I go home this year :)

shaz said...

This was my favourite style when I was little :) And dipping mantou in the sauce...oh my goodness, you have me drooling here! Sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed your crab feast. Thanks again for another great entry.

Farida said...

That look so sweet crab and delicious

farida
http://chillichild.blogspot.com

mycookinghut said...

I can have just crabs for my dinner/lunch.. and nothing else.. hehe