Fried Crab with bean threads in pot with Ginger and Spring Onion . 惹味 薑蔥粉絲蟹煲

    Fried Crab with bean threads in pot with Ginger and Spring Onions
惹味 薑蔥粉絲蟹煲

I like food with mild flavor, but I don't cook food mainly to my taste, I believe some dishes taste better with stronger flavor while some dishes taste good solely with it's own taste. Like crab, it could be as plain as you steam it without adding anything and you could cook it with additional ingredients and seasonings, no matter how you cook it, it tastes deliciously yummy. So, just choosse the right type of crabs and cook them at the way you prefer, you will never feel regret.

Bought two good mud crabs back from the market, I steamed the female crab with lots of crab roe in a steamer and fried the male crab which had firm meats with sliced gingers and lots of spring onions, and then put all into a cast iron pot, bedded with the yummy cooked bean threads. There is a little trick that I do to make the bean threads super tasty, you will probably find yourself loving bean threads suddenly.

By the way, do you know what mud crab is? Some of my friends thought crabs with fuller meat was one of the crab species while the crabs which have crab roe is another species....hahaha, they are not, they both belong to the same mud crab family, the only difference is, meat crab is male and roe crab is female, they are born with different characteristics. Mud crabs grow at the junction of brackish water, there is stable supply in Hong Kong and they are named differently according to sizes in different seasons.

我口味清淡，愛吃淡味菜餚，但在烹調食物上，我不會只以自己口味為依歸，因為我相信有些菜驚式要濃味才好吃，而另一些菜式不加任何配料和調味，能吃到食材本身鮮味已非常好。像蟹，我愛清蒸的鮮，也愛吃炒的惹味。所以，選蟹最重要，買到好的蟹，無論怎麼煮法都一樣好吃。

從市場買了兩隻很好的青蟹，我把羔蟹清蒸，把肉蟹加薑蔥炒，加入粉絲，用鑄鐵鍋原鍋上，兩種煮法都非常吃。尤其在煮粉絲上我用了一點小竅門，使粉絲更加入味，我猜你會發覺自己怎麼會突然愛上了吃粉絲呢！

你知道青蟹是怎麼樣嗎？一些朋友以為羔蟹是蟹種之一，而肉蟹又是另一種。哈哈哈，其實羔蟹羔蟹都是青蟹，亦稱『泥蟹』，肉蟹是成年雄性青蟹，而羔蟹則是成年雌性青蟹，只是雌雄有別而。青蟹生長在鹹淺水交界處，在香港供應算穩定，根據不同季節和大小有著不同的名稱。

Fried Crab with bean threads in pot with Ginger and Spring Onion

Ingredients:

Meat crab, whole about 660g  1 pc

Bean Threads, soaked in cold water till soft  2 small bundles

Ginger, cut into thick slices  10 slices

Spring Onion, cut into 3” long  4 stalks

Shallot, chopped   2 pc

Shallot, sliced ​​ 2 pc

Garlic, chopped 2 cloves

Garlic, sliced  ​​2 cloves

Chinese Celery, cut into 3 " long  1/2 stalk

Red Chili, sliced ​​ 1 pc

Seasonings:

Sugar  1 tbsp

Oyster Sauce  2 tbsp

Light Sauce  1 tsp

Dark Sauce  1 tsp

Salt  1/8 tsp

Shaoxing Wine  2 tbsp

Water 250ml

Seasonings for Bean Threads:

Shrimp paste  1/2 tsp

Shaoxing Wine 1 tsp

Sugar  1/2 tsp

Shaoxing Wine  1 tsp

Sesame oil  1 tsp

·          

Method:

1. Clean and wash crab, cut into big pieces, remove the crabs lung and dirt; Crack the claws slightly, trim the ends of crab claws, dry thoroughly

2. Prepare and cut ginger, spring onions, shallot, garlic and red chili

3. Sprinkle tapioca slightly over the crab pieces

4. Heat up a big wok and oil over medium high heat, fry ginger slices till fragrant, take all out; add in crab claws, then crab body, and then the crab cover with shell side down, fry till shells changed to orange red, about 3 minutes, and take out

5. In the same wok, fry chopped shallot and garlic, and return fried ginger slices into the wok, and fry over medium heat until fragrant; add Chinese celery and half portion of the spring onions in, turn heat to medium high, return crab pieces to wok, toss; add in sugar, toss again;  mix oyster sauce, light sauce and dark sauce well, sprinkle ove the crab pieces; sprinkle salt and then add wine from the side of the wok, stir fry with the crab; sprinkle 150 ml water in , mix well; load bean threads to the bottom of the wok under the crab, cook for two minutes; take out the crab, ginger, spring onions, shallots and Chinese celery

6. Heat a cast iron pot or a small wok and oil, fry garlic slices, shallot slices and red chili, add in the mixture of shrimp paste, wine and sugar, fry till fragrant, and transfer bean threads and sauce from the big wok in, mix well, sprinkle in a teaspoon of wine and 100 ml, mix well again, return the cooked ginger, spring onions to the pot, on top of the bean threads, then put crab pieces on top, cover and cook for 3 minutes, add in the remaining spring onions and sprinkle in sesame oil, put the lid on.  Serve.

Cooking Tips:

1. Crab shell is hard, trim off the ends of the crab legs to prevent hurting when eating

2. Put tapioca on crab pieces could help retain crab meat and juice better

3. Add sugar in before other seasonings when frying crab, the caramelized sugar enhances crab flavor

4. A little shrimp paste enhance the flavor of crab juice and seasonings, when simmering, tastes of the seasonings all go into the bean threads and it is irresistibly delicious.  Crab pieces are placed on top of the bean threads, so the freshness of the crab would not be overwhelmed

5.  If there is not sufficient water for the bean threads, add a little more, but do bear in mind that this crab dish tastes better when slightly dry,

惹味 薑蔥粉絲蟹煲

材料： 

羔蟹，約660g  1 隻
粉絲, 先用水浸軟  2 小札
薑，切厚片  10 片
蔥，切3"段   4 棵
乾蔥,   切碎  2 顆
乾蔥， 切片  2 顆
蒜瓣， 切碎  2 顆
蒜瓣， 切片  2 顆
唐芹，切 3" 段 半棵
小紅椒，切片  1 隻

調味料：
糖   1 tbsp
蠔油  2 tbsp
生抽  1 tsp
老抽  1 tsp
鹽     1/8 tsp
酒    2 tbsp
水    250ml

粉絲調味：
靚蝦醬  1/2 tsp
酒  1 tsp
糖  1/2 tsp

酒  1 tsp
麻油  1 tsp


做法：

1.  洗淨蟹身，切件，去掉蟹肺等內臟，蟹鉗略拍開，切去蟹爪尖，索乾水備用

2.  切好料頭，備用

3.  蟹身及蟹蓋略灑上生粉

4.  中大火燒熱鍋及適量油，放入薑片，略炸，取起留用；放入蟹件，先放蟹鉗，蟹爪，然後翻轉蟹蓋放入，半煎炸至蟹轉橙紅色，約3 分鐘取起

5.  原鍋轉中火，爆香乾蔥碎和蒜茸，薑片回鍋，炒至有香味；加入唐芹段和一半蔥段略爆炒，轉中大火，加入蟹件拌炒一下；灑入糖，炒勻提鮮；蠔油、生抽、老抽拌勻，灑入再與蟹件爆炒一會；灑入鹽，圍鍋邊灑酒，再爆炒；灑入150 ml水，拌勻；在鍋邊放入粉絲，移至蟹件底煮兩分鐘，取起蟹件及料頭

6.  燒熱另一鑄鐵鍋或其他炒鍋，加油燒熱；轉中火，爆香乾蔥片、蒜片和紅椒片，加入已用糖酒拌勻的蝦醬，爆至有香味，把粉絲連汁從原鍋轉入，和蝦醬拌勻，灑入少許酒；加入剩餘100 ml水，拌勻粉絲，放回料頭，蟹件，焗 3分鐘，開蓋灑上剩餘蔥段及麻油，加蓋原鍋上桌

提示：

1. 青蟹殼硬，切去蟹爪尖，免吃時傷咀

2. 蟹身上粉，煎炸過的蟹肉更香口，也可封鎖肉汁
3. 炒蟹先下糖，焦香糖味可提升蟹味
4. 蝦醬和原鍋蟹汁焗粉絲，粉絲更入味；蟹件放粉絲上，蝦醬不會蓋過蟹鮮味
5. 若粉絲太吸汁致水份不足，可略加水。但薑蔥粉絲蟹煲以較乾身，食味更佳