Best Side Dish For Crabs

Last weekend, I had a one day visit to my hometown ( Guinayangan Quezon) and quick and short as it was, I still managed to indulge myself with the best crabs in the country ( for me, our crabs are the best!) over lunch that day.

 

We set-up a random budol ( foods are laden on banana leaves spread and eaten with bare hands, everything is meant to be shared to everyone in the table) lunch at my father's backyard.


 

Hence the randomness, we really didn't have much food, except for the stars of the table _ the crabs ofcourse and the hot rice and some fresh fruits.

Can you spot that white dish over there?



It's  the best side dish you could eat with your crabs. An eggplant recipe my brother and I had grown-up with and til' this day we couldn't enjoy crabs without it. A hand-me-down recipe from my beloved mother, I'll try to share  with you. Actually, it's my brother who is more keen on preparing this as I rarely eat crabs at home if not the rare times I make it to my hometown.
Anyway, as my memory serves me right, the recipe goes like this:

> peel off the grilled eggplants,say we're using two large pieces, set aside
> in a bowl prepare the vinaigrette, everything just to taste please, vinegar, salt & pepper and a dash  of sugar.
> now combine the vinaigrette with a cup of coconut cream
>everything now into the eggplant, mix and taste, already pleasant to your taste, no need to add anything

 Eat your crabs  and rice with this, perfection!!!

ClawDaddy

Dinner last night was at Bonifacio High Street.

At ClawDaddy. Only because our vouchers were about to expire in  2 days. haha.

So off to fetch the kids from schools and dragged them, delaying their homeworks' scheds. Each of them goes to a different school now. Far from each other too.

We got there, the place was not packed yet so we got a table inside.

But had requested to transfer to an al fresco table cos it was too cold for feverish husband and asthmatic cuzin'. haha.

Now a days, for me green salad is a non-negotiable fix.



Claw Daddy's salad. In ranch dressing, lettuce,ham, eggs, cherry tomatoes, olives and walnut brittle with two buttered bread. Good. The size was quite deceiving, but the plate actually served us all.






Buffalo wings. Too strong for my kids whose favorite is Don Henrico's buffalo wings.

Oyster Rockefeller. I ate most of them.

Carbonara. Too salty for my preference. Look. . .

. .  .as sad as my younger daughter. It was served a tad late after all the other dishes were served and daughter was too hungry to wait that long.



Szechuan Crab. Ofcourse you couldn't leave Clawdaddy without a taste of the claws crabs. It was great thu'.



It was so good for crab addict cuzin', she shelled up to every lil' claw there was. Look at the above photo, on her hidden lap was the trash bucket she put the shell/skin. Her daughter was already sleepy. hahaha.

Noodle soup. Hubby hardly touched any of the plates. As I mentioned he was feverish and had a weird appetite that night. He ordered himself  a simple noodle soup instead.



Well, we stayed for a while. We were too full to get up quickly. Cuzin' at this point was still busy beside me with the claws. hahaha.
Our bill was short of few cents to P3k. Not bad. But for a cheap mom like me, it would be a heartbreaking wallet bullet to pay ( already to me ;)) that much, for a random dinner like this.
If you could relate (hahaha), why not do it the way I do_ I take advantage of the discounted vouchers available in 50% to 80% at Ensogo, Phils. No catch. Just register and you'll be offered daily deals. It will be up to you then to avail or not. Just click this  Ensogo.com.ph

from the sea to my kitchen

Fresh catches from the sea_ of my hometown G.Q.

6 hours drive from Manila, here are my rewards! Fresh,prime quality and cost 50% cheaper from Manila markets.







Taking them home to my urban kitchen I try to be a lil' creative, add some colors and texture to these gifts from mother ocean.






- greens for this sea food soup

- saute' everything ( crabs,prawns & squid) in garlic,onion & ginger. submerge them in broth and sprinkle with chopped greens. salt & pepper to taste.

















-turns the blue-ness of these crabs to orange-ness

- steam the crabs











- and pair with my own vinegar dip concoction














- out of the shell and a cake creation

- crab cake recipe * see in my Sept. archive_ posted as "Crab Cake"












- lace the prawns with white sotanghon thread in a piping hot soup
- submerge the prawns in a sea food broth. add in sotanghon noodles and petchay.













- balance the sea saltiness of the shrimp with the sourness of the tamarind in an all time pinoy favorite sinigang soup

- create sinigang broth with natural fresh tamarind or use prepared powdered pack. add in the veggies and last in the shrimps.











- all in now_ Fiesta Palabok

- see recipe in Oct. archive_posted as "Pancit Palabok"






Serve to and enjoy by my family of voracious eaters. Prepare and cook by a frustrated chef of the family=> meeh!!!

Crab Cake

There are thousands of crab cake recipes in the net which can catch one amidst of confusion. But not me, I always have my brother as my reference cook. Cooking to me came later than my brother who spent childhood eating in my mother's kitchen,his teen's copying my mother's recipe and adulthood_ cooks better than anyone in the family. Tip: he actually has his own food blog -Sweet Pinoy Recipe, which authorship he does anonymous. You could visit him at the link in the left corner of this page.



Getting back to crab cake, I realize that most recipes use canned crab meat. Ours is really fresh crab meat and and the simplicity goes with the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients:
1lb lump crab
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup onion leeks (finely chopped)
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
oil (for frying)

A common problem when making crab cakes is getting them to hold together. We resolved this by chilling the crab cakes for about an hour before frying.

Directions:

-In a bowl mix together eggs, mayo, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and mustard until creamy. Add bread crumbs and mix in evenly. Last, add in crab meat and mix evenly.

-Shape into patties (you should get about 6-9 depending on the size).

-Heat a little bit of oil in a sauté pan. Sauté crab cakes in batches for about 5 minutes on each side. Try and keep an eye on them to make sure they are not burning on the bottom. Drain on paper towels.

How To Cook Fresh Crabs

In our province, crabs are bought alive and kicking! so you would take them to your kitchen, all tied up.



Ofcourse, you wouldn't want your crab with all parts of it torn apart which what would happen if you cook it alive. To prevent this, you have to kill it first ( whooe.so bad!). Turn the shell around, prick it straight to its heart by using a sharp knife.



Then you have to cook it on its tummy facing up. First of all, it's because the shell of the other side is thicker, so it has to touch the heat more to achieve an even cooking result. Second of all, usually even after pricking it to death, the crab still manages to move. Turning it on its tummy would prevent it from rising from the death (halaah!).