Salt & Pepper Mud Crab ala Beancounter

Over the weekend my dad got hold of these massive mud crabs. Guess who he called first to share the experience? No surprises there. Ahh, the benefits of a foodie’s son… My being a “foodie” I owe a lot to him. He doesn’t refer to himself as such but he definitely is one. We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things but when it comes to food we almost always agree.

By the way, there’s no exaggeration in the word “massive.” These crabs (claws closed and folded) were longer in length than a Pringles (potato chips) canister. I took several photos comparing the two to give you some perspective but I wasn’t happy with them so I decided not to post any. You just have to trust me.

I would normally head the Singapore style Chilli Crab direction but somehow it did not feel right on that occasion. I wanted to make the most of such excellent produce. Heavy sauce I thought would mask all that fresh crab goodness. So instead, I went the Salt & Pepper route.

I’ve only done this recipe using prawns. Crab is not that much of a deviation I figured.

Because of the size of these mud crabs I only used one in this recipe. It was enough to keep two people happy.

Salt & Pepper Mud Crab ala Beancounter

1 large mud crab cleaned and quartered.

Seasoned flour (cornflour or plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper)

Lots of oil for deep frying

1 onion chopped

2-3 cloves garlic chopped

1 chilli chopped

1 tablespoon salt

½ tablespoon sugar

Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Spring onions chopped

1. In a hot pan dry roast the salt, sugar and pepper. This should probably take less than 5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside.
2. Heat up lots of oil for deep frying.
3. Dust the crab pieces in seasoned flour. Deep fry these till cooked. The timing depends on how big the pieces are. Set aside.
4. In a large wok, heat up a bit of oil. Sauté the onion, garlic and chillies for a couple of minutes.
5. Throw in the crab piece and toss for a couple more minutes.
6. Sprinkle your pre-prepared salt/sugar/pepper mixture and toss a bit more. Add the spring onions just before serving.

Father’s Day Lunch at Que Huong, Darra

Yes, Father’s Day in Australia falls in September. Forgive me for being cynical but I think it was purely for commercial reasons and nothing but. There doesn’t seem to be any nationally significant event that happened in September. So, the powers that be decided to stick one in. But anyway, I’m not complaining.

On my special day I want a special meal. After enjoying fine dining in the past couple of weeks all I was after was some good food sans the pretence. One place that always comes to mind when I’m in this sort of a mood is Que Huong at Darra.

There are lots of good hole-in-the-wall eateries in Darra but for me Que Huong is a step above. It’s not really a hole-in-the-wall operation. It’s one of the larger restaurants in the area. It’s spacious enough to handle a sizeable family like mine. But they manage to keep the atmosphere still very relaxed. You don’t feel judged as you suck on those enormous mud crab claws. And of course, they serve fantastic seafood.

To start we had some Jellyfish Salad (Goi Sua Thom Thit). The combination of flavours and textures was the perfect dish to wake up the palette.

We followed this with some deep fried soft shell crab. The novelty of eating a whole crab, shell and all, still hasn’t worn off. It has got just the right amount of spiciness to tickle ones taste buds.

For the main event it has to be the mud crab. You order them by the kilo. You can have them cooked all sorts of ways. But for us the simple combination of salt, pepper and chilli was the only way to go. The spice blend enhances not mask the flavour of the mud crab.

To balance our heavily seafood orientated meal we ordered some crispy skin chicken (especially for the kids), pork ribs and a clay pot of some tofu, vegetables (and more seafood).

If you’re after good honest food in a stress free environment Que Huong never disappoints. Details below:

Que Huong

139 Darra Station Rd

Darra QLD 4076

07 3375 4368

Chilli Crab Revisited

macadamia nuts

The flu season has brought with it blocked noses. Consequentially, my wife has suffered loss of appetite. To bring back to life that which was lost I cooked some chilli crab. The flavour and spice hit it brings was sure to deliver and more...

chilli flakes

Some of you are probably wondering why a photo of macadamia nuts is prominently displayed. Read on to find out.

belacan

The foundation of a good chilli crab is a good rempah. Rempah is what Indonesians and Malaysians call their spice paste made from fresh herbs and/or dry spices. And one essential ingredient in the rempah is candle nut. It is named as such as the nuts can be strung together and lighted up like candles.

alimasag (blue swimmer crabs)

I've never seen them in the Philippines but apparently we have what we call lumbang after which the town of Lumban, Laguna was named after. If you know more about this please do not hesitate to comment.

cooked spice paste (sauce that has to split)

Although candle nuts are readily available in Australia there weren't any when I shopped for my chilli crab. Macadamia, which is both rich and buttery, is my chosen substitute. It's got none of the bitterness of the candle nuts but adds depth and texture to the sauce. Not many are aware of this but macadamia, although successfully cultivated in Hawaii, is in fact an Australian native.

The recipe below is a variation on the chilli crab recipe I posted here:






Chilli Crab ala Beancounter

3 fresh crabs cleaned and halved, leave the main shell whole
Some flour
3 large onions
3 cloves of garlic
a knob of ginger
Fresh chillies to taste
Chilli flakes or dried chillies to taste
4-6 macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon belacan (shrimp paste)
1 large onion chopped (yes, another one)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup/sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup stock
Salt to taste
Oil - lots of it

1. First, you need to make the rempah or spice paste. Combine the onion (the first 3), garlic, ginger, various chillies, and macadamia nuts in a food processor. Blitz until they turn to paste. You make this as fine or chunky as you like.
2. Heat up some oil for deep frying.
3. Coat the crab pieces in flour. Shake off the excess flour. Fry the crab pieces until they are about half way done. This should take approximately 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
4. Heat up a bit of oil then saute the chopped onion (yes, the other one) until it is nicely caramelised.
5. Add the rempah and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the tomato ketchup and the sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Add the stock. Reduce the sauce to a consistency you prefer.
8. Add the fried crab pieces. Make sure all the crab is coated well by the sauce.
9. Lower the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the crab pieces are cooked.
10. Garnish with some fresh coriander. Serve hot!

Inihaw na Pusit (Char-Grilled Squid) ala Mr J

I love cooking, no doubt about that. But during our recent holiday to the Philippines I took a break from the kitchen as well. Thanks to my cousin-in-law Joel there was no need to get my hands dirty as he always guarantees very tasty meals. Not only is his food lip smacking good he always manages to prepare them in no time at all.

We bought a few kilos of really fresh large squid on our trip to Dalahican. It would be a “waste” if we make “adobo” of such high quality squid. Grilled was the only way to go! Mr J gladly agreed. He did it all from cleaning to firing up the coals to plating! Thanks once again! If only we could fly you here! Someday…

The recipe below is straight from Mr J, verbatim. Walang binatbat ang Ilonggo Grill to his Char-Grilled Pusit! Do try it! More Mr J recipes in future posts!

Char-Grilled Pusit

Ingredients:
Pusit (squid), medium sized, cleaned

Stuffin':
Diced Tomatoes, Onions, Salt and Pepper, Optional Wansoy (coriander)

Baste:
Half cup Soy sauce, 3 tbsp UFC banana catsup, 3tbsp sugar (brown preferred)
Chopped garlic, Oil

Procedure:
Grill over charcoal while basting for about 5-7 minutes each side depending on how hot the grill is. Make sure to achieve some pretty nice grill marks.

Can also be cooked through in an oven.

Serve with TLC!

joelarguil
0927XXXXXXX

Dalahican Fish Port, Lucena City – Fruits of the Sea

This is the first of a series of posts focusing on what my mom-in-law delightedly expressed as the “highlight of her holiday.” No recipes. Just a series of photographs.

One very early morning I accompanied her to the Fish Port of Barangay Dalahican in Lucena City. There are only a few things that excite Inay and one of them is fresh seafood. Looking at the photos below it is not hard to see why she described that morning as such.

Chilli Crab ala Kidpawan

When I’m feeling generous and want a special treat and have loads of time I would cook Chilli Crab. It is not really complicated to make but it does take a long time to prepare and cook… Ok, Ok, it’s quite involved but the reward at the end is worth all the effort.

Chilli Crab is an original Singapore dish. You’ll find lots of variations to this dish on the net. I based mine on the one I found in the Australian Gourmet magazine in the late 90’s. I can still remember my wife, heavily pregnant with our first child, photocopying the magazine for me. I was studying for my final exams at State Library of WA but she decided to tag along to keep me company. I tweaked the recipe a little bit to suit my taste better. It worked then and still works now more than a decade later.

Chilli Crab ala Kidpawan

4 fresh blue swimmer crabs cleaned and quartered
Some flour
4 large onions
2 cloves garlic
6 slices ginger
Chilli flakes/powder to taste
1 large onion chopped (yes, another one)
1 cup tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup stock
Salt to taste
Oil – lots of it

1. First you need to make the chilli paste. Combine the onions, garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor and blitz until they turn to paste. You can make this as chunky or as fine as you like.
2. Heat up some oil for deep frying.
3. Coat the crab pieces in flour. Shake off excess flour then fry. Set aside fried crab.
4. Heat up a bit of oil the sauté the chopped onion until golden brown.
5. Add the paste and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the tomato ketchup and the sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Add the broth.
8. Add the crab pieces. Make sure all the crab is coated well by the mixture.
9. Lower the heat and simmer for about 2 minutes.
10. Serve hot with jasmine rice

At home – Salt & (Chilli) Pepper Calamari (aka Deep fried squid)

A lot of people find squid intimidating. It is easy to see why as these creatures look like they belong to another planet. It is impossible to visualise how something good can come out of these slimy beasts.

There are other good reasons why squid could be daunting. For one, cleaning squid is an art. I’m sure you can Google this. Next, cooking them must be perfectly timed. You either cook them really quickly (like the recipe below) or stew them for hours. In the wrong hands squid might turn out to be the worst fodder on earth. But if done right…

My recipe below is similar to what they usually served at Yum Cha. Their good on their own as entrée or main with salad (or rice for us Pinoys).



Salt & (Chilli) Pepper Calamari

Ingredients
6 large squids (best to buy fresh rather than prepared squid tubes)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt (Iodized salt might be healthy but it does not taste good so don’t use it! Get your iodine fix elsewhere!)
1-2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
Lots of oil for deep frying

1. Clean the squid by separating the head from the body. Turn the body inside out to make sure nothing nasty is left in it. Cut off the eyes from the head but make sure the tentacles are intact.
2. Cut the body of the squid into rings. Marinate all the squid pieces in soy sauce for about half an hour.
3. Mix the flour, sea salt and chilli powder.
4. Heat up the oil in a deep pan or use a deep fryer. Test the oil by dropping a piece of squid. If it sizzles immediately then your oil is probably ready.
5. Coat the squid in the flour mix a handful at a time. Shake the excess flour off.
6. Drop the squid pieces in the hot oil. It should be ready in less than a minute.
7. Drain excess oil and serve with lemon wedges.