Braised Mud Crab with Glass Noodles

Name: Braised Mud Crab with Glass Noodles
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 115 g (4 oz) sugar; ½ teaspoon sesame oil; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) oyster sauce; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) light soy sauce; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) shaoxing; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) Chinkiang vinegar; 1 teaspoon sea salt; 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste, wrapped in foil and roasted until fragrant; 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) fresh chicken stock; 1 tablespoon coriander seeds; 2 coriander (cilantro) roots, scraped and chopped; 3 tablespoons finely chopped ginger; 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 2 spring onions (scallions), cut into julienne; 4 dried red chillies; 1 tablespoon white peppercorns; 250 g (9 oz) glass noodles; 1 small handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped; 1 × 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) live mud crab

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Balance and Harmony

By Neil Perry

Published 2008

About

This is a great last-minute braise with a wonderful flavour. The noodles soak up the crab juices and you can suck the crab right out of the shell.

Ingredients

1 × 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) live mud crab
250

Asia
Thailand
Main course
South East Asia
Noodles

Method

Kill the mud crab humanely, pull off the top shell, discard the grey gills and wash. Pull off the claws, chop the body in half and crack the shell on the claws with the back of a cleaver. Soak the noodles in warm water for 5 minutes, then drain well.

To make the spice paste, place the chillies in a dry heavy-based frying pan and r