Chinese-style soft-shell crabs

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 larges Soft-shell crabs OR_
6 smalls Soft-shell crabs
1 large Handful scallions, slivered
1 small Handful fresh ginger, slivered
Soy sauce
Sherry
Sesame oil

Directions

Prepare crabs for cooking: thaw, rinse, pat dry, remove apron and gills. Sprinkle with cornstarch.

Make sure that you are wearing long sleeves and the kitchen fan is on full blast.

In a large skillet heat a couple tablespoons of peanut oil to the smoking point. Toss in the crabs. Immediately clap the lid on the skillet; when the initial clatter dies down, remove the lid or put it ajar. Cook until crisp, maybe 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side. When they're done (? 4 minutes, I haven't any idea ?), toss in ginger and scallions; stir fry for a minute. Add soy and sherry to taste (I use about 1 tablespoon of each) and shake skillet around over high heat until sauce is mostly absorbed.

Arrange on a serving platter and drizzle a little sesame oil over.

The restaurants make the sauce separately: Boil the sauce ingedients and thicken with a little cornstarch water; when the crabs are fried, put them on a platter and pour the sauce over.

The advantage to the restaurant method is that the crabs are a little crisper; the advantages to my method is that the crabs absorb more flavor from the sauce and the meat comes out fluffier.

Recipe from Michael Loo. Converted to Meal-Master format by Arthur Cloninger.

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