Sweet & Sour Stir-fried Crab 酸甜炒螃蟹

Sweet & Sour Stir-fried Crab 酸甜炒螃蟹

Recipe source ; Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

This recipe is handed down from my late father-in-law. This was how he cooked crabs - with thick cucumber slices. I have eaten plenty of sweet and sour chilli crabs but never came across one with cucumber slices until I married SK and sampled my father-in-law's special sweet and sour crabs!

It was unique and rather refreshing to have cucumber among the crabs pieces, smothered with sweet and sour gravy and beaten eggs. Yes, it was very refreshing to bite into these thick cucumber slices. Not to mention the fresh and succulent crabs! 

This is definitely finger-licking good!

Ingredients

1 kg crab, depending on the size of the crabs, cut into halves or bite-sized pieces
2 eggs, beaten
4 shallots, chopped
5 pips garlic, chopped
5 chilli padi, sliced
1 cucumber, cut into thick slices
3 tbsp cooking oil

Sauce Ingredients

3 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar

Place all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix evenly. Set aside.

Thickening Solution

1 tbsp cornflour dissolve in one and a half bowls of water

Method

1.  Heat 3 tbsp of oil in wok using medium heat.
2.  Add chopped shallots, garlic and chilli padi and stir-fry until fragrant and garlic has turned slightly brown.
3.  Pour in sauce ingredients and fry for 1 minute.
4.  Add crab and stir-fry and ensure sauce ingredients coat the crab pieces thoroughly.
5.  Add cucumber slices and stir-fry to mix well. 
6.  Add cornstarch dissolved in one and a half bowls of water. Mix well and cover the wok and let it boil for 3 to 5 minutes. (If it gets too thick you can add a little bit more water)
7.  Add in beaten eggs and stir thoroughly. Let it boil for a further 3 minutes.
8.  Dish up and serve.

Crab Siew Mai 蟹肉烧卖

Crab Siew Mai 蟹肉烧卖

 

Looks delicious even when raw!

Ingredients

30 to 40 pieces of won ton skin
1 tbsp cooking oil for oiling the base of a steaming plate 

Ingredients For Siew Mai Filling

350g minced pork and fat
100g bamboo shoot (diced )
20g spring onion (chopped )
1 medium-size crab ( boil to cook and remove all the flesh )
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp Shao Hsing wine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper
1 tsp oyster sauce

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together.

Note : It's optional to leave some of the crab meat to top up the siew mai as garnishing

Instruction To Wrap The Siew Mai

1.  Place one tsp of the siew mai filling onto a piece of won ton skin
2.  Gather the edges together to form a firm cylindrical shape. Ensure the bottom of the siew mai is flat to enable it to stand on its own
3.  Level the top with the back of a spoon after dipping in water 
4.  Place the wrapped siew mai on an oiled steaming plate
5.  Repeat the process until all the filling and won ton skins have been used up
6.  Place the wrapped siew mai at least 1 cm apart to avoid them sticking together.

Steaming the Siew Mai

1.  Heat up the water in a steamer and bring it to a boil
2.  Place the whole plate of siew mai into the steamer
3.  Steam at high heat for 10 minutes

Note : You can refer to my previous post on The Technique of Steaming Food, read  here

 

Looks even more delicious when cooked!

Fried Vermicelli With Crab 米粉炒螃蟹

Fried Vermicelli With Crab 米粉炒螃蟹

 

  Exceptionally good !

My family and I first tasted this fried vermicelli crab at a seaside restaurant in Kuala Selangor. It was very good but it cost me a bomb. So when we got home, we replicated it. It was so much cheaper and equally good !

Ingredients

2 medium-size crabs ( clean and cut up into four piece, use something hard to crack the pincers)
250g choy sum ( wash and clean )
200g dried vermicelli ( soak in water until soft, drain and set aside )
4 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
10g ginger ( sliced thinly )

Sauce Ingredients

 2 tbsp of abalone sauce
 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
 2 tbsp of black soy sauce
 1 tsp salt
 2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp m.s.g

Dissolve the sauce ingredients in 1 Chinese rice bowl of water

Instructions To Boil The Choy Sum

1.  In a pot, add in 1 litre of water and 1/2 tsp of lye water ( kan sui in Cantonese )
2.  Bring it to a boil
3.  Add in the choy sum and let it simmer for 1 minute
4.  Drain, rinse with fresh water and set aside

Cooking Instructions

1.  In a wok, add 4 tbsp of oil and fry the minced garlic and ginger slices until light brown and fragrant
2.  Add in the crabs and use medium fire to fry until nearly cooked
3.  Add in the sauce ingredients and let it boil for 5 minutes. ( Use more water if necessary )
4.  Dish up the crabs only and set them aside. Leave the gravy in the wok
5.  Add in the choy sum and let it simmer for 1 minute. Dish up and set aside.Leave the gravy in the wok.
6.  Add in the vermicelli and use a pair of bamboo chopsticks to stir the vermicelli over medium fire until it is nearly dry and begin sticking to the wok. (Note: test the vermicelli to see if it is soft enough otherwise add a little more water and continue stirring)
7.  Dish up the vermicelli on a big plate. 
8.  Arrange the crabs and choy sum around the vermicelli

  You can replicate it too !