Vietnamese Crab- Satay stir fried crab “cua xao sate” & boiled crab recipe.
(Photo: Live blue crabs with satay ingredients: fresh onions, minced garlic, scallions, lemongrass…)
(Photo: Boiled blue crabs with lemon/pepper sauce)
Father’s Day 2021- So we asked my dad what he wanted to cook today and he said he wanted blue crabs. So blue crabs is what he got! We drove all the way to @hmartofficial in New Jersey to pick up some fresh crabs and made them two ways.
Growing up, this was always a treat for us growing up as kids in Kansas so having this as a family now with both parents and my lil sis just brought us all back to our old childhood days… 😍
The first batch (pictured in top right corner) were simple boiled blue crabs served with a lime/salt/black pepper dipping sauce! The sauce is so good and was our favorite dipping sauce as kids since it was a lil sour/citrusy/and salty! Paired with a little black pepper it had just the right amount of spice.
The second way was a stir fried crab with a Vietnamese satay sauce (lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots) then tossed with fragrant aromatic herbs like cilantro, scallions and red chili.
When buying fresh crabs, store in an cooler box with cold packs with a damp cloth over the cooler. NEVER store them in the fridge because they will DIE and dead crabs means mushy gross off tasting meat.
For both options you will need to wash crabs in cold water and scrub clean with a brush.
TO BOIL CRABS:
Clean crabs. Wait till a rolling boil and let boil for 5 minutes (lid on) until the crabs are all bright orange in color. Rinse off with warm water to remove any impurities from crabs.
Make dipping sauce:
Vietnamese Lemon Dipping Sauce:
2 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh cracked pepper (just a few grinds)
SATAY STIR FRY CRABS:
Ingredients:
5-8 Live blue crabs
4 tablespoons light EVOO oil
6 garlic minced (about 3-4 tbs)
4-5 slices of fresh ginger
1 shallot (minced, or white onion, 1/2 cup)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp. ground black pepper
3 tbs satay sauce (I made this homemade, for recipe, go -here-)
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine
1 cup green scallions (1-2-inch diagonal cuts, about 3 stalks)
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (loosely cut)
1 red chili (cut into thin diagonals for garnishing)
PREPARATION
1. Clean crabs then remove the upper shell of the crab. Tear off the gills and discard. Clean again under running water, drain, and chop in half.
2. Prepare sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix together and set aside. For extra crab flavor add the brains under the shell into the sauce.
2. In a wok, heat the oil over high heat and add garlic, ginger and shallots. And fry until fragrant (about 15-30 seconds).
2 Add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, fresh black pepper, and crab and stir-fry until all is evenly coated. Leave on a low simmer with lid on until meat is slightly opaque (about 5 min).
3. Add the satay sauce and wait till crabs are cooked through (another minute or two). Then toss in wine, red chili pepper, scallions and cook for 30 seconds. Toss in cilantro and lightly mix, transfer the crab and all it’s juices to a large serving bowl and serve with hot sticky rice.