I learned the basics of this recipe at a cooking school at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
2-3 Dungeness or similar sized crab (raw).
1/6-1/4 cup Oil
1 Tbsp per Crab of Black Peppercorns
1 Tbsp per Crab of Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp per Crab of Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp per Crab of Shaoxing wine (Dry white wine is alternate)
1/2 Tbsp per Crab of chicken stock power (alt: use some liquid stock)
1 tsp sugar per crab
1 cup water (boiling)
1/2 a head of lettuce
Cilantro
Optional: 2-3 cloves of diced garlic, 2-3 diced chilies, chopped green
onion, lemon grass
Procedure:
Bake/heat [I sometimes do in a frypan] the peppercorns a low heat until they will can be crushed in a mortar and pestle. They should not “powder” so don’t use a grinder.
Dispatch your crabs, and quarter at a minimum. Crack the shell of large crabs.
Save 1 carapace for presentation.
Start a VERY hot wok
Outdoor: (I put the wok right on the coals in a Beber, but it gets too hot, IF THE OIL SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTS IT IS TOO HOT. I intersperse Rocks and Bricks in the the coals to keep the heat manageable.
Indoor: I put the Wok on medium to medium high heat on gas to start, and on High after the water is added.
Boil some water and keep near-by.
A. Add oil to the hot wok, and optional garlic and chilies.
B. After 20-30 seconds, add the crab and stirfry for a minute or 2.
C. Add the wine, chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce and Fish Sauce. (I eyeball all
liquids, just splashing them in the wok. (Add some bruised lemon grass
stalks if you want Thai flavors). Cook 1 Carapace as well.
D. Add the boiling water. I learned this recipe at “Raffles” in Singapore, and the chef said
to “Cover the crab with water”, but I find i need to minimize the water
in order to not overcook the crab – 2 cups is probably sufficient. Turn up to High if cooking on gas.
E. Boil away ALL the Water. (if is taking too long, I will even remove crab to a bowl
while the water boils).
F. Deglaze the wok with more wine and toss the crab in the blackpepper sludge to coat.
Presentation is family style.
Put a bed of lettuce leaves on a platter. Place Crab on the bed and garnish with green onion and Cilantro. Put the Carapace on top and serve.
In Singapore there will be no garlic, chilies, lemon grass or green onion. I added those to make it authentic Ukranian 🙂
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