Black pepper crab

You’ll need to place the crab into the freezer for 30 minutes to put the crab to sleep and make it easier to process. If you prefer, you can ask your fishmonger to break down and clean the crab for you.

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Stream free On Demand

Ep 5

episode • The Streets Hong Kong • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Streets Hong Kong • 

cooking • 

25m

G

Ingredients

• 1 snow crab
• 2 tbsp finely ground black pepper
• 50 g butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 2 stalks spring onion, cut into batons, plus extra sliced to serve
• 1 tbsp potato starch, mixed with 1 tbsp water, to thicken
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking rice wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ cup coriander leaves, to serve

Black Pepper Sauce

• 2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 knob of ginger, sliced
• 2 coriander roots, chopped

Freezing time: 30 minutes

Instructions

1. Place your crab in the freezer for 30 minutes before breaking it down.
   
2. To break down the crab, make an 8 cm incision with a heavy knife on the underside right in the middle of the body. Pull half the body and legs inwards to release from the carapace. Repeat with the other half. Remove the gills (dead man's fingers) and also remove the stomach sack inside the carapace (head). Drain any excess liquid. Remove the claws from the body gently and crack the claws and arms with the back of the heavy knife. Cut the body/legs in half and set aside.
   
3. In a mortar and pestle, ground black peppercorns. Once they have broken down, add the coriander root, garlic and ginger, and pound to form a rough paste.
   
4. Add butter to a wok set over high heat. Add the paste with the finely ground black pepper and cook for 30 seconds before adding the chicken stock. Bring the stock up to the boil, and season with salt, sugar and oyster sauce. Add the crab, reduce the heat to medium and cook, with the lid on, for 6-8 minutes, or until the crab is cooked through.
   
5. Remove the crab and set aside. Bring the sauce back up to a boil. Add the green onion. Slowly add the potato starch water slurry to the sauce, a little at a time – and wait for the sauce to come back up to the boil before adding more to better determine the thickness of the sauce. You’ll want the sauce to be the consistency of a thin gravy.
   
6. Return the crab to the sauce, and stir to coat. Remove from the heat and add Chinese cooking wine and sesame oil. Serve warm, topped with fresh coriander leaves and sliced spring onion.

This recipe is from The Streets, Hong Kong on SBS Food.

Photography by Adrian Patra.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Ep 5

episode • The Streets Hong Kong • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Streets Hong Kong • 

cooking • 

25m

G