Flower Crab Tofu Soup (花蟹豆腐汤)

INTRODUCTION

I am writing this post now in Johor Baru and I am having a short vacation in Malaysia.. While there are some free time, I searched for some simple recipe to share with all..

I seldom cooked crabs at home since kids are still young and they still do not how to appreciate these type of shell crustaceans.. Since they are near 10 years old, I have decided it is time to introduce is this type of economy and softer shell crabs.. I bought 2 crabs at a very reasonable price of about S$10.00.

As to how should these crabs be cooked, as I still cannot cook something that is very spicy like chilli crabs..the first thing that came into my mind is to “boil” into soup.. As the crabs are very fresh, they were not fishy and it was a very sweet soup… In order to further enhance the soup sweetness, I have added some fish stock that I prepared from fish head and fish bones.. However if you do not have any fish stock, you can always add chicken stocks or other seasonings that you are used to..

As per Wikipedia:

“Portunus pelagicus, also known as the flower crab, blue crab, blue swimmer crab, blue manna crab or sand crab, and alimasag in Tagalog, is a large crab found in the intertidal estuaries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Asian coasts) and the Middle-Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The name “flower crab” is used in east Asian countries while the latter names are used in Australia. The crabs are widely distributed in eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, Persian Gulf and New Zealand. The males are bright blue in colour with white spots and with characteristically long chelipeds, while the females have a duller green/brown, with a more rounded carapace. The carapace can be up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) wide.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portunus_pelagicus)

For readers who understand Mandarin:

“兰花蟹含有丰富的蛋白质、微量元素等，对身体有很好的滋补作用。蟹，自古就有“四味”之说。“大腿肉”，肉质丝短纤细，味同干贝；“小腿肉”，丝长细嫩，美如银鱼；“蟹身肉”，洁白晶莹，胜似白鱼。花蟹含有大量人体必需的蛋白质、脂肪、磷脂、维生素等营养素，营养丰富。功效性味：咸、寒、有小毒。养筋益气、理胃消食、散诸热、通经络、解结散血，对于淤血、黄疸、腰腿酸痛和风湿性关节炎等有一定的食疗效果。(Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/296575.htm)”

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: 4-5 adult servings

2 flower crabs
1 box of tofu
5 cm of ginger, sliced into big pieces
2 sprigs of coriander leaves, cut into big chunks
2 sprigs of spring onion, cut into big chunks
3 tablespoons of Chinese cooking wines
1 litre of fish stock or chicken stock
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
Dashes of white pepper
Pinches of salt

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Pluck the shell of the crab, take away the gills, rinse the shell and set aside. Cut into big pieces (usually into half or 4 pieces). Crack the legs using some thing hard like a pastel. Set aside.

In a pot, put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, sauté the ginger and spring onion chunks until fragrant. Add the crab, stir fry for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Add the fish or chicken stock, bring to boil. Add the tofu, Chinese cooking wine, dashes of white pepper and pinches of salt. Let it simmer for about 5-6 minutes. Garnish with coriander before serving..Best served hot immediately after the preparation.

Notes:

To take out tofu nicely from the box, invert the box, cut 4 small holes at the 4 corners of the box, your tofu can be easily taken out from the box…

Overcooked crab will make the meat tough and shrink..

CONCLUSION

This belong to the Simple Household Dishes Series that aims to help new house chefs who may not know how to cook this type crabs.. Do give it a try and let me know if this suit your family’s taste buds.

Hope you like the post. Cheers and have a nice day.

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