Manna from Heaven - Crab Recipes

In my youth I spent many a fun filled hour tossing off crab nets from Bunbury's historic old wooden jetty, or boiling a copper full of seawater on the banks of the estuary at Australind in anticipation of the crabs that our family would catch, cook, clean and eat.

My dear father, a keen amateur all-round fisherman and diver, taught us kids how to master the art of the scoop, a skill which is only developed with practice.

When wading through the shallows it was possible to startle a crab sitting on the sand or in the weeds, prompting it to dart off sideways in an attempt to escape. This is where your scoop skills needed to be clean and precise to catch the fleeing prey.

Occasionally too the crabs would scuttle unnervingly around your ankles, making you do an involuntary little jig in the knee-high water.

But it was worth it. Anyone who has pulled a pot or scooped a big blue manna crab knows the feeling of joy brought about by seeing this crustacean - with its rich blue enamel-like hues - scuttling around the bottom of a cut down kero tin.

The blue manna, or sand crab, inhabits estuaries and inshore waters around Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific, up to Japan and across to South Africa.

Crabs are bottom feeders and feast on bivalve molluscs, other smaller crustaceans and even fish and squid.

Size restrictions apply but these are more than adequate to slake the hunter's desire while ensuring crab numbers are sustained for the future.

Don's tips for crab

Picking the meat out of a boiled crab is a chore to some people, but to true believers it's a small price to pay for the enjoyment of such a sybaritic feast.

Some of the many ways to enjoy the crab's delicate, sweet flesh include crab thermidor, crab mornay and crab cakes. However my all-time favourite is simply picked meat, topped onto fresh bread and butter, salt and peppered with maybe a hint of vinegar.

Wines to enjoy with crab

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy crisp chilled white wines, fruity rieslings, herbaceous sauvignon blancs and blended whites like the classic dry.

Crab Cakes

Ingredients

500g peeled, cooked crab meat
1 onion finely diced
1 red capsicum, seeded, finely diced
500g gruyere cheese grated
200g breadcrumbs, fresh
1 tsp sesame oil
1 egg white
1 tsp sake
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp chopped fresh garlic
a pinch of sea salt and white pepper

Method

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl except for the breadcrumbs. Add a sprinkling of breadcrumbs to help bind mixture. Shape into small patties and then lightly coat in the fresh breadcrumbs.

In a heavy based frypan heat some peanut or olive oil, add the crab cakes and fry until golden on both sides. Finally garnish with some chopped chives and/or fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top.

These are absolutely delicious served with a home style mayonnaise, cocktail style sauce or chilli dipping sauce.

Oriental Steamed Crabs

Ingredients

6-8 fresh uncooked crabs
50g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1/3 cup oyster sauce
1/3 cup chicken marinade ("Lee Kum Kee's is good)
1 can beer
a slurp of olive oil
1 tbls corn flour
6 spring onions, sliced on angle

Method

Clean crabs, remove back, de-knuckle legs and claws, remove ‘dead man's fingers' (gills). Lightly wash out and drain upside down on absorbent paper.

In a heavy base saucepan with lid, heat oil medium to hot, add crabs upside down, replace lid and cook for one minute.

In a separate pan, heat ginger in a touch of oil on medium heat. Add oyster and chicken sauce, ‘coral' from crab shell and corn flour.

Turn crab over, add beer, replace lid and semi-steam for one minute. Then add the ginger mix, toss crabs, add spring onion and replace lid for another minute.

Serve in white bowls with finger bowls.

Stir Fry Crab with Leek and Ginger

Ingredients

4 cooked crabs, cleaned, broken in halves
3 tbls olive oil
1 tbls fresh ginger, finely chopped or crushed
100g rice noodles
1 leek, halved lengthways washed well, cut into 3cm lengths and finely sliced
10 spring onions, finely sliced, separate white part of onion, keep green apart
2 tbls oyster sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 splash of white wine or sherry
100mls water
1 tbls soy sauce
1 small fresh hot chilli finely chopped (optional)

Method

Pre cook rice noodles in boiling water for approximately three minutes. Drain and keep hot.

Heat wok, add oil, ginger, garlic and spring onions, cook without burning for one minute. Add leek, toss for one minute. Add crab, oyster sauce and splash of wine, then water, and reduce to a nice consistency.

Heat crab through, add in spring onion greens and garnish with picked fresh coriander leaves.