Soft-Shell Crab Gets a Makeover
I call this yakitori style because of the sauce — because yaki means chicken and tori means skewered grilling, and this dish is neither! But the simmering nage (broth) that you bathe the duck in reminds me of yakitori bars all over Japan. The cooking technique for the duck can be used to great effect in other recipes too, and the only mistakes you can make are not cooking your duck slowly enough or overcooking it. At home we team this dish with steamed Japanese short-grain rice, a cucumber salad with rice wine vinaigrette and grilled asparagus or Chinese broccoli. We slice the breasts and serve them family style. I love the large magret duck breasts from D’Artagnan for this, but any local ducks (Pekins are most popular) will work just beautifully.
Crispy Soft-Shell Crabs with Bangalore-Style Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons beef stock or low-sodium broth
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 large shallot, very thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 to 3 serrano chiles, halved lengthwise and very thinly sliced crosswise
- 2 large egg whites
- 8 jumbo soft-shell crabs, cleaned and patted dry
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
Active: 30 min
Total Time: 1 hr 30 min
Servings: 4
In a bowl, whisk the soy sauce with the beef stock, lime juice, sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Add the shallot, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Stir in the cilantro and chiles.
In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the crabs and turn to coat. In another bowl, whisk the flour with the cornstarch, white pepper, salt and cayenne.
In a large saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil until 375°. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet. Dredge 2 or 3 of the crabs at a time in the flour mixture and add them to the hot oil. Fry over high heat, turning once, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer the crabs to the rack. Transfer the crabs to a platter and serve with the dipping sauce.
Originally published in Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen Adventures on foodandwine.com.
Photograph by Stephanie Meyer.
