2 large uncooked mud crabs
2 cooked blue swimmer crabs, cleaned, body cut into quarters and legs and claws cracked
Chilli Sauce:
2 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp finely grated galangal
1 long green chilli, thinly sliced, plus extra to garnish
1 long red chilli, thinly sliced, plus extra to garnish
5–6 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal, plus extra to garnish
1/3 cup (100g) chilli bean paste
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
15g palm sugar, grated
1 cup (250mL) fish stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful each roughly chopped coriander and flat-leaf parsley
Freeze the mud crabs for 30 minutes or until they are stunned completely, then plunge them into a large saucepan of salted boiling water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until cooked through. If your crabs are on the small side, reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes.
Drain, then separate the bodies from the claws and legs. Remove the meat from the bodies, and crack the claws and legs, then combine in a bowl with the prepared blue swimmer crabs.
Heat the olive oil in a wok over medium heat, add the garlic, galangal, chilli and spring onion and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Add the chilli bean paste, vinegar, palm sugar and stock and mix well. Add the crab, along with all the loose meat, and heat through for 5–6 minutes, tossing until heated through and well coated in sauce.
Season with a little salt and pepper, then turn out into a large serving bowl.
Scatter the coriander, parsley and extra chilli and spring onion over the top and serve immediately.
Recipe and image kindly provided by 'What Katie Ate' by Katie Quinn Davis
www.penguin.com.au
Photo Credits: Katie Quinn Davies
