6 recipes. Page 1 of 1
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
There is no stock here, only water, but onion and ginger sautéed in sesame oil before the rice goes in keep the porridge from tasting flat. Flecks of red crab and green bok choy show through the white rice.
Pork stock thickened lightly with tapioca starch carries crab meat, thick chewy banh canh noodles, and soft curds of egg in this southern Vietnamese soup. The broth should just coat the back of a spoon, and it keeps thickening after the heat is off, so a splash of hot stock at the end loosens it.
Crisp blanched lotus root and chunky crab sit together in a yuja mayonnaise, two textures that stay distinct when each is handled gently. Yuja marmalade, made from a fragrant Korean citron, brings sweetness and a floral citrus note that lighten the mayonnaise, and a little lemon juice sharpens it further. Thin red onion spends a moment in cold water first so its bite does not drown out the yuja. The salad is piled onto baby greens and served cold.
The binder of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, egg, and breadcrumbs is kept just strong enough to hold the crab together, so big lumps of meat still show in every bite. Lemon juice and parsley add freshness next to the sweet crabmeat. Every extra stir breaks down the crab, so the mixing stops with a few folds, the moment the mixture barely holds. Chilling the shaped patties for 30 minutes firms them up so they survive the flip. Fried in butter, they come out with a crisp shell and a warm, tender center.
Egg and scallion are about the only other things in the pan, so the sweetness of the crab comes through first. In Thailand it arrives with a wedge of lime on the plate for you to squeeze over yourself.
Soft crab balls rise through a red, tomato-sour broth in this Vietnamese noodle soup. In northern Vietnam the traditional version pounds whole paddy crabs and strains the liquid, which sets into a custard-like layer as it heats, while this recipe mixes crabmeat, ground pork and egg into a sticky paste instead. Everything rides on the balls holding together: the paste goes by the spoonful into broth that is barely moving and stays unstirred until the pieces firm up. Shrimp paste goes in a little at a time because it is strongly salty.