Food Porn: Crabs in Coconut Milk Recipe
8:17:00 PM
Hi lovelies!
I'm back for another tasty recipe which involves Mr. Crabs over here 🙋. Last time I shared a quick & tasty seafood snack recipe for you which you can check out here. This dish may not be as quick to prepare and may also be a bit pricey but it is very tasty and healthy (tip: read the benefits of crabs below). So treat yourself or your whole family to some tasty crab dish and keep on reading!
Let's get nerdy (may be skipped):
Crabs are considered a delicacy in different countries and is often substituted with cheaper imitation crab meat. This meat may contain a small amount of real crab meat, but is mostly made from artificially flavored fish.
Benefits of Eating Crabs
Crab meat is an excellent source of high quality protein, vitamins, and minerals that are needed for good nutrition. It is low in calories with only around 85-90 per 100g (depending on crab type). It is also an excellent source of phosphorus, zinc, copper, calcium, vitamins A, C, B vitamins such as B12, iron and unsaturated fat (increases good cholesterol). Now before you start thinking that it is not healthy, take note that the kind of fat that crabs are rich in is generally unsaturated fat (saturated fat is the one responsible for raising bad cholesterol levels) which is actually considered to be good for your heart ❤️ .
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It is a natural source of Omega-3 fatty acids which can aid in improving your memory and decreasing the chances of having a heart attack. The selenium in it also helps in decreasing the risk of cancer. Some studies even say that it can possibly improve depression and anxiety. Since it also has some chromium, it is considered to improve blood sugar metabolism which is helpful for those with insulin resistance.
Crabs are also considered a low risk seafood for Mercury. Many fish, specifically those at the higher end of the food chain may possess dangerous amounts of mercury, therefore, are not recommended to be eaten frequently. This means the risk of mercury poisoning is very low when it comes to eating crabs.
So enough talk and let's proceed with the recipe🍽 !
Ingredients:
1/2K of crabs (sand crabs or blue crabs)
400mL freshly squeezed or 2 (13.50z) cans of coconut milk (evaporated milk can be a substitute)
1 cup of string beans (cut into 2-3in long and discard the ends)
3cups of water spinach
6 cloves of minced garlic
half of white onion (thinly sliced)
2tbsp ginger (julienned or thinly sliced)
4 pepper fingers
ground pepper
a dash of paprika
3 tbsp of fish sauce or salt
3 tbsp of vegetable cooking oil (I used Canola oil)
*optional: MSG and 1 cup of squash (cut into squares)
Procedures:
1. Prepare the crabs by rinsing them thoroughly. I got mine fresh (we can get them alive from the market) but regardless whether it is fresh or frozen, make sure that you clean them thoroughly. Since I bought mine fresh, I had to remove the top shells and discard them then cut them in half. I removed the innards and discarded the front and back sections. Wash and prepare the other ingredients as well.
2. Heat the cooking oil in a wok or a large pot over low heat.
3. Add the garlic.
4. Before the garlic turns brown, add the onion and cook until it becomes semi-transparent.
5. Add the ginger and cook it for about a minute or until you can smell it.
6. Add the crabs and stir to make sure the garlic, ginger and onions do not get burned.
7. Add the coconut milk and make sure it evenly coats the crabs. Boil it over medium heat.
8. Add black pepper to taste, cover the pot then bring to a boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
9. Add the fish sauce and stir occasionally to prevent the milk from burning.
10. Let it cook for another 5minutes.
11. Add the string beans and make sure that they are submerged completely in the coconut milk.
12. Let it cook for another 4 minutes.
13. Add the water spinach (and squash if have) and continue boiling for 2minutes.
14. Season to taste (pepper, fish sauce/salt or MSG) and you're done!
15. Before serving, sprinkle some paprika over the crabs.
Since I'm Asian, I eat almost everything with rice so you can serve it with warm, white rice.
Enjoy your meal. Happy eating!!
I believe that cooking is a personal experience. I personally do not measure the ingredients most of the time and just rely on my taste when adding flavors. Therefore, you can follow these steps or you can be creative and use ingredients you want.
Hope you like this post. Let me know if you've tried this recipe or my previous recipe.
Have a great day everyone!
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