Typhoon Shelter Crab (Bifengtang Chao Xie, 避風塘炒蟹 )
The Mala MarketIngredients
For Frying the Crab
- 1 whole Dungeness crab
- ½ cup potato starch or cornstarch for coating
- 3 cups neutral oil for frying
For the Garlic Topping
- 1 cup minced garlic
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper
For Pickup
- 2 scallion whites, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 5–15 dried Tianjin or zi dan tou chilies (depending on how spicy you want the dish), chopped
- 2 teaspoons fermented black beans, chopped
- A few slices of red or green chili peppers, such as jalapenos, for garnish
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper
- ½ teaspoon light soy sauce
Instructions
Prep
- Butcher the live crab: Pry open its carapace by inserting a chef’s knife through the slit at the bottom of its body. Set the top shell aside. Use scissors to snip off the feathery gills, and the rubber bands around its claws, and discard them. Remove and discard the abdominal flap, also known as the tail flap, found curling up the underside of its body. Once this piece is removed, you can use your knife to easily section the body lengthwise down the middle. Next, section it again crosswise, so that you have four pieces of meaty crab, each with two legs attached. Finally, twist off the claws and cut off the leg pointy tips with scissors (this will allow the seasoning to penetrate the legs).
- Spread the potato starch or cornstarch onto a plate, then dust each piece of crab with the starch, focusing on the soft, exposed parts. I like to do this to the top shell as well, because someone will want to suck all the jus out of it.
- Heat the oil to 375℉ in a wok or a deep pot. Fry the crab, one or two pieces at a time, for one minute on each side, then remove and set it on a rack to drain. Skim off any debris from the oil. Refrigerate the crab until ready for pickup.
- Let the oil temperature drop to 250℉, then put the minced garlic into a fine mesh strainer and set the strainer in the oil. Since the garlic has so much liquid, the oil temperature will drop and will stay low until nearly all the water is gone. Slowly fry the garlic, stirring gently with a spatula, for about five minutes, until the garlic is foamy and light golden. You’ll know it’s almost done when the temperature of the oil begins climbing again. Remove the garlic from the wok and pour it onto a paper towel to drain; it will keep cooking if you leave it in the strainer.
- Let the oil come back up to 350℉, then fry the panko breadcrumbs, using the same strainer-in-pot method you used with the garlic, until the breadcrumbs are golden, about two minutes. Remove them from the wok, drain them on paper towels, and mix them with the garlic in a medium bowl.
- Season your garlicky breadcrumb mixture with the salt, sugar, cayenne pepper and ground Sichuan pepper, using a spoon to toss everything together. Set the mixture aside until ready for pickup.
Pickup
- Mince the scallion whites and garlic cloves. Chop the dried chilies and the fermented black beans.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a wok on medium heat, then stir-fry scallions and garlic until fragrant and soft, about a minute. Next add dried chilies and black beans and continue stir-frying for another minute to coax out their aromas.
- Add the crab pieces and continue stir-frying to thoroughly reheat the crab. Add the salt, sugar and ground Sichuan pepper. Lastly, sprinkle the soy sauce around the edge of the wok; the idea is to add just a hint of soy sauce aroma and depth without the liquid soaking into the fried coating. Give everything another minute in the wok for the flavors to meld.
- Lastly, add the garlic breadcrumb mixture and pepper slices, give the mixture a few quick tosses in the wok, then transfer the crab and the fried garlic mixture to a plate and serve. I like to pile the crab limbs akimbo onto a platter, crown the whole thing with the top shell, then rain the breadcrumbs down on top. Plastic gloves not optional when eating.
Notes
The fastest way to mince the garlic for this recipe is to pulse it in a food processor. (A garlic crusher expels too much juice.) If you don’t have a food processor, don’t sweat it; a restaurant cook in China would just use a cleaver and the rocking technique.