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Susan Jung

Crab is my favourite shellfish by far. I've never had a fresh one I disliked. There are so many varieties and I'm happy to eat them all, especially when they're served in their shell. Crab in its shell is too messy to be 'first date' food, nor would I serve it at a formal dinner party. These dishes are best enjoyed with close friends.
Flower crab with lemongrass, chilli and coconut milk (pictured)
The flower crab is named for the pattern on its shell. For this dish, other types of small crab (weighing about 250 grams each) can be substituted. Choose lively specimens that feel heavy for their size.
This recipe was created by Alice Rez, assistant to food stylist Vivian Herijanto.
4 flower crabs (about 1kg in total)
50 grams ginger
3 large garlic cloves
1/2 an onion
2 large red chillies
3 lemongrass stalks
3 spring onions
30ml cooking oil
45ml fish sauce
165ml coconut milk
Fine sea salt and ground white pepper
Clean the crabs by scrubbing them with a rough brush under running water. Flip them onto their backs and pull off the loose flap of shell at the base - on males the flap is elongated; on females, it is a wide bell shape. Pull the top shell from the body and set aside. Pull out and discard the feathery lungs. Use kitchen shears to remove the eyes and mouthparts then rinse the body under cold water. Cut each crab into four pieces and leave to drain with the top shells while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Peel and thickly slice the ginger then bruise it with the flat side of a cleaver. Roughly chop the garlic and cut the onion into 3mm slices. Cut the chillies on the diagonal into 5mm-thick pieces. Discard the top of the lemongrass stalk and peel off the thick leaves, leaving only the juicy base. Lightly bruise the base with the flat side of a cleaver then slice into thin rounds. Chop the spring onion into 3cm lengths.
Place a large wok over a high flame and heat the oil until it's very hot. Add the ginger, garlic, onion and chilli and stir-fry briefly. Stir in the lemongrass, then add the crab parts and shells, the fish sauce and salt and pepper. Stir to combine the ingredients then cover with the lid, reduce the flame to medium and cook for a few minutes. Uncover the pan, add the coconut milk and spring onion and stir over a high flame for a couple of minutes, or until cooked (the shells will deepen in colour). Adjust the seasoning and serve with steamed white rice.
Steamed crab with garlic-soy dip
2 Dungeness crabs, about 800 grams each, or one large mud crab
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
100ml cooking oil
70ml soy sauce
Prepare the crab as above. Chop off the large claws and crack them lightly with the back of a cleaver. Cut the bodies into six to eight parts, depending on their size, and place the pieces in one layer in a large, shallow bowl. Put the back shells, concave-side up, in another bowl. Boil some water in the bottom of a tiered steamer and steam the crab, in batches if necessary. The body pieces will need 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the crab, and the shells 10 to 15 minutes.
While the crab is cooking, make the dipping sauce. Put the garlic and oil into a small pan over a low flame and cook until the garlic is golden and sizzling. Remove from the heat, add the soy sauce and spoon the sauce into small bowls. Serve with the steamed crab.
Steamed hairy crabs with ginger tea and vinegar dipping sauce
I prefer to eat hairy crabs at home (or, even better, at a friend's place) rather than at a restaurant. It's much more affordable and steaming hairy crabs requires practically no skill at all.
When buying crabs, ask for the vendor's recommendation on how long to cook them (it typically takes 15 to 20 minutes, depending on weight). The vendor will give you dried herbs to steam with the crab and most sell Shanghainese brown vinegar, rock sugar, ginger and dried plums.
Hairy crabs
Fresh ginger
Rock sugar
Brown vinegar
Granulated sugar
Chinese rice wine
Dried herbs
Dried plums (optional)
First prepare the ginger tea. On a chopping board, whack a 200-gram piece of ginger with the side of a cleaver, then place it in a pan with 500ml of water. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Sweeten to taste with the rock sugar and dilute it as needed with boiling water. Keep the tea very hot.
For the dipping sauce, peel and thinly slice more ginger, then julienne into fine slivers. Pour some brown vinegar into a bowl, add granulated sugar to taste and divide between individual dipping bowls, adding the julienned ginger to each. Heat the bottle of rice wine in a pan of hot water. If serving with dried plums, put one in each cup and pour the warm wine on top.
Leave the crabs in their bamboo bindings and scrub them under cold running water. Place them in one layer on their backs on a plate and scatter the dried herbs on top. Boil some water in the bottom of a tiered steamer, place the plate on the tier and steam the crabs for the time recommend- ed by the vendor. Snip off the bamboo bindings and serve the crabs with the dipping sauce. Serve the ginger tea at the end of the meal.
Styling: Corner Kitchen Cooking School
 


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Flower crab with lemongrass, chilli and coconut milk. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Hairy, flowery, muddy - crabs come in a variety of guises, but they all taste divine. Susan Jung gets her hands dirty


Susan Jung's recipes

Three crab in shell recipes: stir-fried flower crab, steamed crab, and steamed hairy crab

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hairy, flowery, muddy - crabs come in a variety of guises, but they all taste divine. Susan Jung gets her hands dirty

Hairy, flowery, muddy - crabs come in a variety of guises, but they all taste divine. Susan Jung gets her hands dirty