spring onion, ginger and garlic crab
2 min readThis dish puts the ethos of Cantonese cooking on show with its simple balance of flavours between the fresh crab and ubiquitous ginger and spring onion. Ask your fishmonger for fe-male crabs (hens’, wider abdomen flap) as they offer more richly flavoured brown meat than the males (‘cocks’), along with decadent crab roe. During cooking the brown meat and roe melt into the bao’d (literally ‘exploded’) ginger and spring onions. This melty mixture both sauces the crab and serves as a wondrous dressing for the noodles underneath.
Serves 6 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp finely diced ginger 6 spring onions, cut into lengths, white parts lightly smashed 2 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced 1%2 tsp cornflour 2 large fresh brown crab (about 1.3kg total), cleaned and prepared, lids kept, divided into quarters 150g dried egg noodles spring onions, green parts only, cut into 5cm long pieces pinch ground white pepper 4% tsp granulated sugar tsp salt 1 Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a wok or large saucepan over a medium-high heat and stir-fry or bao(ex-plode)the ginger, spring onion whites and half the chilli until fragrant.
2 Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix 1/2 teaspoon cornflour and 1/2 tablespoon water into a slurry, then add the crab(except for the lids) and toss to coat. Add the crab to the wok and turn several times to coat them in the oil. Place the crab lids on top, inside facing up. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons water and cover to trap in the smoky wok hei(breath of the wok. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes, before stirring in a further 3 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon oil. Cover and cook fora further 5-6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
3 Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water according to the packet instructions,then drain and coat with a few drops of oil.
4 Reduce the heat to low under the wok then, in a bowl, mix the remaining cornflour and 60ml water into a slurry and pour it into the wok. Increase the heat and simmer, stirring regularly until the sauce has thickened. Reduce the heat and add the spring onion greens, the rest of the chilli, the pepper, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt and mix well to combine. Drizzle in the remaining oil and mix to evenly coat everything until glossy. Serve piping hot on top of the noodles.
