So yesterday I posted a couple of pics of our local crabs, fresh and alive, waiting to be cooked into delicious food. It will be the inspiration for my piece and recipe share for today.
I love the sea and everything that comes with it. Maybe not a tsunami, but you know, beaches, sailing, swimming, and all the delicious gems hidden inside the sea.
I grew up on an Island called Labuan. back in the 1980s my dad stumbled into the Island for a job and he never left it since. He said he would live his life to the fullest there and die on this unknown Island. He even told to have his ashes sprinkled in the sea so he could forever be one with the sea that he so loved. Yeah, he got every single one of his wish. - Just a short memoir for my late father who passed on this day 10 years ago.-
So, His love for the sea passed on to me. Maybe because he always brought me to the sea. At only 7 days of life, my dad took me to the sea and let me have a swim. My mom went beserk! yeah, crazy german guy! But no worries, babies have instincts to swim, so i was alright. Picnics, swims, sailing and fishing were some of our usual activities. Seafood was definitely a staple. Lobsters were abundant and cheap back then, so were shells and a variety of fish and crustaceans. I learned alot of dishes from my dad. Oh yes, he loved to cook. He was the one who thought me cooking, not my mom. From the tender age of 6, I was attending every single one of my dads kitchen sessions. He taught me stuff like sharpening your knife, peeling, baking breads, roasting and much much more. Food from the soul.
So crabs, naturally were super abundant at the time and always big, fat and fleshy. These days it is hard to find one with all those qualities.
Lucky for me, yesterday, some ambitious crab dealer came along the clinic and offered us some enticing selections of crab. I bought a Kilo, and got 6, 3 males and 3 females. The gender of the crab is important. I find that the flesh of the female is sweeter. It also has a softer shell and hence easier to work with. But males have more flesh but they are sometimes a little bit bitter.
Arent they just so cute. I find crabs super adorable and whenever I go to the beach, I would hunt for them. The small ones of course. Hubby is super scared of crabs. traumatising experience as a kid. poor dear.
Anyways, I decided to make my mom's improved recipe of Stuffed Crab Au Gratin.
Au Gratin basically means topped with crumb or cheese and then browned. I only got to know about it yesterday. We learn stuff everyday! so fun.
Ok so here is the recipe for
Stuffed Crab Au Gratin (I dunno if I pronounced it right... lol)
So in case you are wondering what is on that blue plate, I have the stuffed crab, roasted sweet potatoes purée and leftover meat cutlet from the day before. might not have been the best combo, but the crabs arent going to be filling enough on its own, and I didnt want to waste food since we still had some leftovers.
So the ingredients- these makes 6 medium sized crab shells. should serve about 2-3 people.
So fresh live crabs 1 kg - i got 6
3 eggs- A grade, hard boiled and chopped fine. dont turn it to paste, make it like egg salad kind of shape and consistency.
condensed milk,
mayonaise- 1 table spoon
salt and pepper to taste
coriander leaves, finely chopped - about 1-2 tablespoons.
Mozzarella and strong cheddar cheese. - grated or sliced
note on the cheese, mozzarella on its own doesnt have much flavor, but I use it for its stretchy and smooth qualities. makes it visually attractive. I usually use Edam cheese, but I had some leftover strong cheddar, and that worked fine as well.
Steps:
very simple.
1. cook the crabs (whole and alive) in a pot of boiling water infused with bay leaves and a little salt. gets rid of any funky seafood smell if present and gives it a hint of aroma. does not affect the taste. in-case you do not have bay leaves, you can sub with lemon-grass or other aromatics. you can also skip it altogether.
2 let it simmer for 5 mins, drain it and cool it. once cooled enough to handle, comes the gritty part, peel them and get the flesh from the intricate shell. carefully remove the crab top (the head shell), clean and wash it, dry it one side. you need them to stuff back the filling.
3. once all the flesh has been extracted, in a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the cheese. use just enough evaporated milk to moist the mixture. if you have pooling of liquid in the bottom, its already too much. (agak agak la, i didnt measure)
4. once the ingredients have been mixed, taste and season well. you should get the taste of the sea, hints of coriander and sweetness from the milk. dont over do the pepper. you will hide the flavors of the crab.
5. scoop the mix into the shells. top them off with as much cheese as you like. dont put too much, they will just melt away onto the tray.(yeah ambitiously overdid the cheese).
6. broil/ bake the crabs on the top tier of your oven, close as you can get to the top heat source, max the temp (mine goes to 230 cels) and cook till u get the color you like on the cheese. its not very long. maybe 5 mins. dont lleave them. watch them closely, once the color change, they brown really fast.
Tadaa.... there you have it. delicious crab flavor accentuated by the ingredients.
Do try it, and I hope you like it as much as my crab fearing hubby. he ate 3 shells. plus the meat nugget and the purée.
I love the sea and everything that comes with it. Maybe not a tsunami, but you know, beaches, sailing, swimming, and all the delicious gems hidden inside the sea.
I grew up on an Island called Labuan. back in the 1980s my dad stumbled into the Island for a job and he never left it since. He said he would live his life to the fullest there and die on this unknown Island. He even told to have his ashes sprinkled in the sea so he could forever be one with the sea that he so loved. Yeah, he got every single one of his wish. - Just a short memoir for my late father who passed on this day 10 years ago.-
So, His love for the sea passed on to me. Maybe because he always brought me to the sea. At only 7 days of life, my dad took me to the sea and let me have a swim. My mom went beserk! yeah, crazy german guy! But no worries, babies have instincts to swim, so i was alright. Picnics, swims, sailing and fishing were some of our usual activities. Seafood was definitely a staple. Lobsters were abundant and cheap back then, so were shells and a variety of fish and crustaceans. I learned alot of dishes from my dad. Oh yes, he loved to cook. He was the one who thought me cooking, not my mom. From the tender age of 6, I was attending every single one of my dads kitchen sessions. He taught me stuff like sharpening your knife, peeling, baking breads, roasting and much much more. Food from the soul.
So crabs, naturally were super abundant at the time and always big, fat and fleshy. These days it is hard to find one with all those qualities.
Lucky for me, yesterday, some ambitious crab dealer came along the clinic and offered us some enticing selections of crab. I bought a Kilo, and got 6, 3 males and 3 females. The gender of the crab is important. I find that the flesh of the female is sweeter. It also has a softer shell and hence easier to work with. But males have more flesh but they are sometimes a little bit bitter.
Arent they just so cute. I find crabs super adorable and whenever I go to the beach, I would hunt for them. The small ones of course. Hubby is super scared of crabs. traumatising experience as a kid. poor dear.
Anyways, I decided to make my mom's improved recipe of Stuffed Crab Au Gratin.
Au Gratin basically means topped with crumb or cheese and then browned. I only got to know about it yesterday. We learn stuff everyday! so fun.
Ok so here is the recipe for
Stuffed Crab Au Gratin (I dunno if I pronounced it right... lol)
So in case you are wondering what is on that blue plate, I have the stuffed crab, roasted sweet potatoes purée and leftover meat cutlet from the day before. might not have been the best combo, but the crabs arent going to be filling enough on its own, and I didnt want to waste food since we still had some leftovers.
So the ingredients- these makes 6 medium sized crab shells. should serve about 2-3 people.
So fresh live crabs 1 kg - i got 6
3 eggs- A grade, hard boiled and chopped fine. dont turn it to paste, make it like egg salad kind of shape and consistency.
condensed milk,
mayonaise- 1 table spoon
salt and pepper to taste
coriander leaves, finely chopped - about 1-2 tablespoons.
Mozzarella and strong cheddar cheese. - grated or sliced
note on the cheese, mozzarella on its own doesnt have much flavor, but I use it for its stretchy and smooth qualities. makes it visually attractive. I usually use Edam cheese, but I had some leftover strong cheddar, and that worked fine as well.
Steps:
very simple.
1. cook the crabs (whole and alive) in a pot of boiling water infused with bay leaves and a little salt. gets rid of any funky seafood smell if present and gives it a hint of aroma. does not affect the taste. in-case you do not have bay leaves, you can sub with lemon-grass or other aromatics. you can also skip it altogether.
2 let it simmer for 5 mins, drain it and cool it. once cooled enough to handle, comes the gritty part, peel them and get the flesh from the intricate shell. carefully remove the crab top (the head shell), clean and wash it, dry it one side. you need them to stuff back the filling.
3. once all the flesh has been extracted, in a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the cheese. use just enough evaporated milk to moist the mixture. if you have pooling of liquid in the bottom, its already too much. (agak agak la, i didnt measure)
4. once the ingredients have been mixed, taste and season well. you should get the taste of the sea, hints of coriander and sweetness from the milk. dont over do the pepper. you will hide the flavors of the crab.
5. scoop the mix into the shells. top them off with as much cheese as you like. dont put too much, they will just melt away onto the tray.(yeah ambitiously overdid the cheese).
6. broil/ bake the crabs on the top tier of your oven, close as you can get to the top heat source, max the temp (mine goes to 230 cels) and cook till u get the color you like on the cheese. its not very long. maybe 5 mins. dont lleave them. watch them closely, once the color change, they brown really fast.
Tadaa.... there you have it. delicious crab flavor accentuated by the ingredients.
Do try it, and I hope you like it as much as my crab fearing hubby. he ate 3 shells. plus the meat nugget and the purée.
Send my rgrds to bailam
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