How to cook a blue swimmer crab and two beautiful preparations

My hubby and I went to our first cooking class at the Sydney Fish Markets, many, many moons ago.  The lesson still remains one of the most interesting and useful classes we have attended. 

Today I show you how you clean a Blue Swimmer Crab and then two Asian style preparations to make this at home. Blue Swimmer Crab is widely available from your local seafood shop.  It has a sweet flavour. The Blue Swimmer Crab is already dead when it is at the fish markets. Look for crabs where all the legs are in tact and the shell is glossy.

I'll start with how to clean and prep the crab - step by step. It's being demonstrated by my hubby in case you were wondering ;)

1. Place the cab so this side faces you.  The male cabs will have the "V" shape flap you can see above.  A female will have a "U" shape flap.  Ensure you use the male variety for sustainability reasons, where possible.

2. Lift the flap and remove the "head" or outer shell.

3.  Remove the "guts". You may wish to use a paper towel to assist you clean at this stage.  Do not wash the crab in an attempt to clean it though, because you will wash all the flavour away! 



4. The cleaned crab will something like this: 



5. Cut the crab in half. Then cut a further half. This will lead to a large claw with a small claw and the second portion will have two smaller claws.

6. Cut so the large claw and smaller claw are now seperated.  Cut the two smaller claws in half.

7. For the large claw, using a device (which looks similar to a nut cracker but used specifically for crabs), make small cracks to the shell.  This ensures when it is cooking the flavours are able to seep through.

Now the crab is prepped and ready you can start the cooking!  

I have shown you below two beautiful preparations you can make. Try one, or as we like, make both and eat with a steaming pot of rice.

Each preparation serves three.   

   

Singaporean Chilli Crab 

Ingredients:

3 cleaned blue swimmer crabs

3 tbsp peanut oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 birds eye chilli, chopped finely

small knob of grated ginger, minced

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp cornflour

1 cup fish stock

160 ml tomato ketchup (must be ketchup not sauce as ketchup is a thicker variety)

160 ml sweet chilli sauce (I like to use the Ayam brand)

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp shao xing (Chinese cooking wine)

3 spring onions, slice diagonally 

1 egg lightly beaten 

corriander leaves to garnish 

Method: 

1. Heat wok over high heat.
2. Once hot add the garlic, chilli, ginger and shrimp paste. Fry for less than one minute. This should be very aromatic.
3. Add the crabs and stir fry until majority of the shells turn from blue to orange.
4. In a separate container dissolve the cornflour in the fish stock, add the tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, shao xing and fish sauce. 
5. Add to to the wok with the spring onions.
6. Reduce heat and stir the crab to ensure it is being coated in the sauce.
7. The crab will be cooked all the shells turn from blue to orange and the crab meat turns from translucent to opaque.  
8. Remove from the heat. Move the crab to one side of the wok. Slowly add the beaten egg by drizzling directly onto the sauce.  You want to create threads of egg through the sauce.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Salt and Pepper Crab

Ingredients:

• 3 cleaned blue swimmer crabs
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• small knob of ginger, minced
• 1/2 stem of the lemongrass (I like to use a combination of the base and upper part)
• rock salt (to taste)
• 3 tsp white peppercorns, crushed in a motor and pestle
• 2-3 spring onions
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 50 ml shao xing (Chinese cooking wine)
• coriander leaves to garnish 

Method:

1. Heat oil, add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, salt and pepper and the crab.
2. Stir until the crab is coated in all the ingredients then cook over a medium heat for 2-3 mins.
3. Add the sugar, Chinese wine, and spring onions and stir through.
4. Continue to cook until the shells turn from blue to orange and the crab meat turns from translucent to opaque.  
5. Garnish with coriander leaves. 













Moroccan Style Preserved Lemon and Chicken Tagine

Hi Guys! 

I must start by saying wow has it really been over three months since I updated this blog? Time seems to fly! I must apologise for the delay but I do have an excuse… Promise! I just got married to the man of my dreams and we had an amazing honeymoon in Bali!

But as things settle back to normality I have time to share with you all the amazing food experiences I have been lucky enough to have. Let me assure you, you are all in for a treat! I will share with you the recipes and experiences from my cooking class at a brilliant French patisserie, a number of new and tested dishes, a cooking class at an authentic Balinese restaurant in the heart of Bali's cultural capital Ubud and visits to a number of quirky new cafes and restaurants that are opening up right on our door step. I want to share all these experiences with you and hopefully inspire you to love food as much as I do!

I wanted to start of my entries with a dish my husband and I absolutely love - the preserved lemon and chicken tagine. One of the things that really set apart this dish is how mouth-wateringly tender the chicken comes. This coupled with ingredients such as preserved lemons packs an oomph of flavour.

Two things I should mention with this dish. One is if you can, buy a tagine. For those that are not sure what this is, a tagine has a flat and round base with low sides and a large cone shaped lid that sits over the base during cooking. 

The second is preserved lemons. In my blog post all the way back in November, I made preserved lemons. They are super easy to make and the richness it will add, especially to your Middle Eastern dishes are well worth the effort. Off course you should be able to buy preserved lemons at any gourmet delicatessen.

Okay so let's get to it! I hope you guys enjoy this dish as much as we do. Warning though, it’s absolutely addictive! 

This dish serves four to five. 

Preserved Lemon and Chicken Tagine 

Ingredients: 

Marinade:

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped 
• small knob of ginger 
• ½ preserved lemon, rind only, rinsed and finely sliced 
• 2 onions, chopped 
• 1 small red chilli 
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika 
• 1 tbsp ground cumin 
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander 
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley 
• 2 bay leaves, torn in half 
• ½ tsp saffron threads, soaked in a little water 
• 125 ml olive oil 
• salt 

For the Tagine 

• 6 -7 chicken thigh fillets 
• 2 tomatoes, 1 chopped, 1 sliced 
• 2 onions, 1 chopped, 1 sliced 
• 2 large potatoes, cut into wedges 
• 150 g pitted green olives 
• 1 bunch coriander, chopped 
• 250 ml water 
• 1 preserved lemon, rinsed and cut into 6 or 8 wedges

Method: 

1. Combine the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend until finely chopped and thoroughly combined. Leave the flavours to infuse for about 20 minutes to half an hour. 
2. Using half the marinade coat the chicken pieces 
3. Combine the chopped tomato and onion with a little of the remaining marinade and spread over the base of a tagine (this will prevent the chicken from burning on the bottom). 
4. Arrange the chicken pieces in the tagine. 
5. Coat the potato wedges in a little of the remaining marinade and arrange around the chicken. 
6. Top with the sliced onion, then the sliced tomato, and push the olives into the gaps. 
7. Combine the remaining marinade with the coriander and water and pour over the top. Decorate with preserved lemon wedges.
8. Cover the tagine with the lid and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes to one hour. Once the chicken is cooked serve to guests in the tagine.

Below I have showed you the tagine arranged before cooking and what it will look like after! The smell of this dish cooking in your kitchen is absolutely divine.

While this dish is magnificent in itself you can add a few side dishes that will really complete the meal.

Cous Cous with herb, lemon and almonds

Cous Cous is very simple to make and pairs beautifully with this dish. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 cups chicken stokc
• 1 1/2 cups cous cous
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1/2 bunch chives, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Put the almonds on the stove and roast for about 3 minutes. Do not add oil. Toasting the almonds releases its natural oils
2. Pour stock into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn of the heat. Add the cous cous. Stand until the cous cous has absorbed all the stock.
3. Add the oil, lemon juice and lemon zest and using a fork fluff the grains.
4. Add the almonds and chives and serve.

Tomato and olive salad

Ingredients 

• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 2 tbps chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup green olives
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Arrange the tomato and onions on a plate and scatter the parsley and olives.
2. Drizzle the red wine and olive oil.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

There you have it a completed Morrocan Feast! Enjoy :)