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JUST
this Sunday after the storm, my husband Bob and I
stopped at the fresh seafood Dampa “mall” along
Macapagal Avenue. He was craving for fresh, fat,
satiny-fleshed, luscious oysters. No less than 20 or
more oysters were dedicated to his want, while I tackled
my choice seafood and had them done at Master Cook, one
of the biggest pa-luto restaurants in the cluster. Crabs
on a chilly day! The oysters were a bargain at P45 a
kilo, because there were hardly any shoppers who braved
the rains like we did. Beside the oyster section were
the crab cages and a vendor calling out to me in
singsong manner: “Ma’am matataba dito alimango.”
(I thought she was calling me mataba!) Another
tindero beckoned: “Mommy...dito ka na, pipilian
kita ng matabang alimango.” (What!!?? “Mommy”? I
wanted to grab a crab and claw him!) After all the
haggling, we ended up with medium-sized binabaeng
crabs (four to six crabs per kilo).
There
are usually several choices with crabs: I like them
deep-fried so I can have a choice of sauces. It can also
be cooked with black beans and oyster-ginger sauce, or
adobo-style in coconut milk, or in a steaming
sotanghon soup as a foil to the chilly weather. Some opt
for the “Butter Sauce,” which has become a standard
sauce in Dampa places. Butter sauce is simply a little
sugar caramelized in melted butter. But I don’t like
margarine, which most of them use, so the next best
cooking for fat crabs would be Chili Crabs. Add to that
minced garlic and you’ve got Chili Garlic Crabs.
Putting
crabs to ‘sleep’
Depending on your personal toughness, there are several
ways to put the crabs to sleep. You can pierce them
between the eyes with the tip of the knife. I prefer to
do what my mom does: I put them in a bucket filled with
beer and water or vinegar and water and wait till they
get intoxicated and when there’s no sign of struggle, I
proceed to dress them cut into quarters. Choose your
weapon but make sure your knives are very sharp. It’s
always safer to work with sharp than dull knives.
Now for
the sauce: the quickest and surest way would be to buy
your favorite bottle of Sweet Chili Sauce. A regular
bottle (like that of the ketchups) would be good for two
kilos of crabs. Don’t over-sauce—you’ll get umay. It’s
always good to stretch one’s appetite to the edge.
Enough
talk from me. Here’s the easy recipe:
Chili
Crabs
For one
kilo crabs, cleaned well, quartered
¼ cup
cornstarch or potato starch for dusting
1 tbsp
rock salt
Freshly
ground peppercorn
Enough
cooking oil to stir-fry
½ bottle
sweet chili sauce
2-3 or
more red chilis, seeded, chopped
3-4
shallots, finely sliced
1 head
native garlic, minced
1 tiny
finger ginger, very finely sliced
1 tbsp
vinegar or rice wine or Shaoshing Wine
Toss
crab pieces with salt and pepper. Dust crab pieces with
a blend of cornstarch (or potato starch). Heat oil, very
hot and stir-fry the crabs. Remove from heat and set
aside. Drain off some oil leaving enough to sauté (about
2 tbsp).
On high
heat: Heat oil again and sauté shallots till wilted.
Then add the ginger and garlic bits. Splash with vinegar
or wine and let evaporate. Then add the sweet chili
sauce and red chilies bits. Bring to boil then throw in
the crabs and toss till all the pieces are well-coated.
Serve ASAP!
Nancy’s Notes
1. I
guess you know how to tell crab genders by now. The
binabaeng crabs have no red roe but carry more yellow
fat than the male crabs.
2. When
selecting crabs for good money, choose the ones that are
heavy for their size. Raise them with one hand to
determine heaviness.
3. If
you want to cut the sharpness of the acid, or the
sweetness, add a dash of soy sauce.
4.
Also, to cut sweetness and to add more umami to the
dish, you can try what I do: I add a wee bit of good
bagoong guisado while sautéeing the sauce. |
