Vietnamese Stir-Fried Crab
- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 12 -14 blue crabs, live (substituting 2 live Dungeness crabs, about 3 pounds each OK)
- 1 cup peanut oil, for frying
- 2 cups flour (seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper)
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 stalks lemongrass, fresh (grassy tops discarded and bulbs finely chopped)
- 4 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons hot pepper flakes
- 3 inches gingerroot, fresh, peeled and julienne
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 bunch green onion, finely chopped
- 4 -5 serrano chilies, sliced into thin rounds (optional)
directions
- Steam crabs then remove the top shells. Pull out spongy gill and opaque matter in center. Flip over & remove the key. Cut each crab into 2 pieces with a mallet or edge of a knife and make a crack (not all the way through) in each crab piece.
- In large skillet or wok, pour in peanut oil, 1 inch deep. Heat the oil and fry the top shells of the crabs, turning until bright red & crisp. Drain on paper towel and set aside.
- Dredge crab pieces in seasoned flour. Add pieces to the hot oil and fry over fairly high heat, turning frequently for 5 minutes to 6 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain. Discard cooking oil.
- Place the skillet or wok on medium heat and add butter and olive oil. When butter is melted, add lemon grass, garlic, pepper flakes, ginger and saute for 1 minute. Add tomato paste, mix well and cook for 1 minute. Add salt and sugar and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the crab pieces (not the top shells) and stir, coating the crab pieces with the sauce. Cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes to 5 minutes. Add the green onions and serrano chiles, if using, and remove from heat.
- For a beautiful presentation, arrange crab pieces back in the shape of the crab. Divide 3/4 of the pan juices over the crabs. Then place the top shells back on top of the arranged pieces, pouring remaining juices on top of the shells. Serve at once.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
Have any thoughts about this recipe?
Share it with the community!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Busters friend
Pleasure Island, 73
<p>First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. <br />He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. <br />There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! <br /> <br />Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 <br /> (10 inchers w/yellow tails) <br /> 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 <br /> (a 24 incher!) <br />Buster woken from beauty sleep - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG <br />Big whiskers - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG <br /> <br />For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 <br /> <br /> <br />I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! <br /> <br />Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! <br /> <br />I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) <br /> <br />I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.</p>