Chilled Pickled Crab

Name: Chilled Pickled Crab
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Shantou
Ingredients: 25 g/1 oz/4 tsp rock salt; 4 fresh red chillies (optional); 4 fresh mottled crabs or any small crabs, about; 100–150 g/3¾—5 oz each 600 ml/1 pint/2½ cups rice wine vinegar; 6 garlic cloves, crushed; 25 g/1 oz root ginger, peeled and crushed

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

China

By Terry Tan

Published 2020

About

Shantou chefs are adept at pickling crustaceans, especially the small mottled crabs that live on coastal beaches and in tropical mangrove swamps. When pickled, the crabs keep for weeks in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

4 fresh mottled crabs or any small crabs, about
100–150 g/3¾—5 oz each 600

Asia
China
Fish course
Pescatarian

Method

Clean the crabs and remove any fibrous matter. Prise the shell away from the body and cut each crab into four pieces. Trim off the ends of the smaller legs. Remove and discard any coral. Wash the crabs thoroughly, drain and dry with kitchen paper.
Put the vinegar in a non-reactive pan and add the garlic, ginger and salt, together with the whole chillies, if usi