Glass noodle steamed crab

With Megyer Selection Furmint Száraz 2019

“Tokaj is the gift from Hungary to the world!” This is what my wine teacher said when he introduced Tokaj to us. I cook this dish to pair with this wine – just to show my respect to Tokaj.

Glass noodle steamed crab

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size brown crab

• 1 bunch of glass noodle; soaked in water for 10-20 mins; cook in boiling water for 3-5 minutes until just softens

• 1 inch piece of raw ginger; finely sliced

• 1 bunch of spring onion; thinly sliced into small thin cylinders

• 4 - 6 gloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce

• 3 - 4 tablespoons of Shaoxing rice wine or any other mild rice wine, e.g. sake

• Salt and peppers

Methods:

1. Brush-clean the shell of the crab; use something sharp and pointy, e.g. a small knife, to lift open the big top shell of the crab. Remove the insides of the crab. Separate the body of the crab into four pieces. You should have with two claws, two sets of legs and one big shell

2. Sprinkle a generous pinch of sea salt and peppers onto the crab and to the meat side; drizzle the rice wine all over the crab. This will remove any unpleasant fishy smell of the crab

3. Lay the cooked glass noodles in a deep plate, put 2/3 of the ginger, spring onions and garlics on the glass noodles, drizzle the soy sauce evenly. Put the crab on top with the hard shell facing up

4. Steam for 10 – 20 minutes. You can check how cook it is in between but make sure you wipe off the condensation in the lid of the steamer

5. When the crab is done, leave aside to rest. Heat up one tablespoon of olive oil in a small non-stick pan while the crab is resting. When the oil is hot, add the rest of the ginger, fry until it releases aroma, then add the garlic and spring onion. Fry quickly for 30 seconds to 1 minute. When all the ingredients have released aroma and just soften, pour the oil together with the ingredients on top of the crab and serve. You can add a bit more soy sauce if you prefer stronger flavour.

Tips:

• The amount of ginger, spring onions and garlic can be adjusted according to personal preference

• There is no need to buy expensive food cleaning brush, a toothbrush will do – just make sure you don’t mix it up with your toothbrush in the bathroom. 😊

Wine pairing:

“Tokaj is the gift from Hungary to the world!” This is what my wine teacher said when he introduced Tokaj to us. It is a wine with perfect balance – it has high sugar content but it has perfectly high acidity to cut through the heavy sweetness; it has Botrytis flavour characteristics and is wrapped with fresh fruity flavours.

When I tasted this dry Tokaj, I had high expectation and it does not disappoint. It has high acidity and lovely fruity citrus flavour with hint of honey and floral notes in the background. I normally pick a wine to match the dish I cook but this time, I cook this dish to pair with this wine – just to show my respect to Tokaj.

The brown crab contains quite a lot of “brown meat”, i.e. the fatty, rich-flavoured part within the shell. The high acidity of the dry Tokaj cuts through the fattiness and provides a balance to the rich flavour of the brown meat. Yet the buttery flavour in the wine matches perfectly the creamy texture of the brown meat.

In Chinese cooking, ginger, spring onions and garlic enhance the fresh flavour of seafood and also remove the unpleasant fishy smells. In this dish, the glass noodles have absorbed all the juice from the crab when steaming; and the spring onion and ginger enhance the seafood flavour. For me, the crab meat is good but the glass noodles in this dish is fantastic. The citrus flavour and high acidity of the dry Tokaj acts as a flavour enhancer and at the same time, the buttery flavour wraps up all complexity of this dish and leave a long and lovely finish on our palate.