Name: Crab in Tamarind and Plum Sauce (Cua Sốt Me)
Yield: Serves 2, or 4 as part of a shared feast
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1 whole mud crab (1–1.5 kg/2 lb 4 oz–3 lb 5 oz); 200 g (7 oz/1 cup) potato starch; 6 spring onions (scallions); 2 long red chillies; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon fine white pepper; 1 large handful coriander (cilantro) leaves; 3 litres (105 fl oz/12 cups) oil, for deep-frying; 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) tamarind and plum sauce

Preparation info

Serves
2
as part of a shared feast

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Secrets of the Red Lantern

By Pauline Nguyen , Luke Nguyen and Mark Jensen

Published 2007

About

Luke Nguyen: Crabs are adored in all Asian countries. In Vietnam, many different varieties of crab are available — species that I had never seen before I visited. They ranged in size from 5 cm (2 in) to an enormous 70 cm (28 in) in diameter — of course, I had to try them all.

For this recipe a 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) ‘muddy’ is substantial. Remember to fry the crab in two batches so that the oil stays hot and t