Food Porn Nation

Ingredients:

1.5 kilo mud crab

400 g egg noodes

A knob of ginger (cut into shards)

6 cloves of garlic (crushed and roughly chopped)

5 stems of shallots (cut lengthways)

salt

white pepper (2 teaspoons)

brown sugar (2 teaspoons)

1 cup chicken stock

Chinese rice wine

1 cup warm water

1 heaped teaspoon of corn flour

soy sauce

peanut oil

How to prepare the crab:

The easiest way is to ask your fish monger to slice the crab into quarters for you, which is what I do. This totally beats having to do this yourself.  Also ask them to crack the claws. This ensures that the heat seeps through the claws to even out the cooking time. You will need to cut the the legs (little legs of four) on each side in half. This will ensure everything cooks consistently.

Remove the deadman’s fingers/gills and digestive tract. Or you can leave the mustards, if you prefer.

DIY

The most humane way is to place the crab in the freezer for 45 min where it falls into a deep sleep. You mustn’t leave it in there for any longer. Once the 45 min is up, you will need to move quickly before it wakes up again. Remove the string and the flap that is located underneath the crab. Remove the top of the shell, and slice down the middle of the crab. Cut the crab and crack the claw as mentioned above.

Here’s how to pick, prepare and kill a mud crab video from the Sydney Fish Markets

Method:

Separate the egg noodle into two batches. Blanch the first batch of egg noodles in hot boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove from water and strain. Repeat with second batch. Run with cold water and set aside to drain for 30 min. Heat oil in wok and stir fry the noodles with oil in two batches until they are brown. Set aside in serving dish.

Prepare the mud crab by lightly sprinkling the pieces of crab in corn flour. Heat the wok with 3/4 full of peanut oil and quickly deep fry until the shell turns bright red. Keep turning the crab until the pieces turn colour. Remove and set aside. Remove oil.

Separate the ingredients into two halves, as you will want to prepare the crab in two difference batches.

Add 2 glugs of oil in the wok until smoking. At a high temperature add the ginger, garlic and shallots and stir fry for 30 seconds. Keep this constantly moving to avoid burning. Add half the crab and stir. Sprinkle two generous pinches of salt over the crab. You almost want to cover the crab when you sprinkle it with salt. Pour 2 glugs of chinese rice wine, white pepper, brown sugar and soy sauce. Stir to combine. Add the chicken stock and cover with wok lid and bring to the boil.

Once the sauce is boiling, add enough cornflour and water mixture so that it creates the right texture and thickness. Let is simmer.

Repeat process with second batch of crab.

Once ready, pour the crab and sauce all over stir fry noodles and eat quickly. You will enjoy every single messy bite!