Ingredients
1 crab, live in the shell, about 2 po, unds
2 green onions, bruised and cut in ha, lf
2 qt sized slices of ginger
1 tbsp shao hsing wine or dry sherry
1 ginger, green onion and vinegar dip, ping sauce
4 tbsp finely shredded green onion
2 tbsp finely shredded ginger, preferably, young ginger
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp vinegar
3 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
Directions
It's crab season here in the San Francisco bay area. Heap and heaps of
luscious Dungeness crabs are showing up all over the place. Steamed or
live++take your pick! I was in Oakland's Chinatown last weekend
shopping at the Sam Yick gorcery and saw a couple of boxes of still-
kicking Blue crabs for a buck seventy-nine a pound. Good eatin' ahead!
Kill and clean the crab. Place it, top shell down, on a heat-
resistant plate. Scatter the onion, ginger and wine on top of the
crab. Put the crab and plate into a preheated steamer. steam over
high heat for 15 minutes. Remove and cool.
Disjoint and crack the crab and arrange on a platter. Dip the meat
into the dipping sauce and eat with green onions and ginger. Use the
tip of the leg to dig out the meat.
Serves 2 as a light meal.
GINGER, GREEN ONION and VINEGAR DIPPING SAUCE Scatter green onions in
a shallow saucer. Top with the shredded ginger. Sprinkle sugar and
salt evenly over the ginger. Pour the vinegar over the ginger. Heat
the oil until it's hot but not smoking, and pour it over the mixture.
It should sizzle lightly. If it is too hot, let it cool.
Makes about 2/3 cup.
Joyce Jue, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/5/90.
Posted by Stephen Ceideburg December 8 1990.
Servings: 2 servings
Chinese Steamed Cracked Crabs Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Asian; Chinese; Crab; Fish; Seafood
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as an idea can be observed far back into history, in fact as far into history as the ancient Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. Having said that, sadly, these old cook books were just primitive hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
Fascinatingly, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to historians are some stone tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel exhilarated. Progressing into The time of the roman empire around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a number of documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his works, Apicius tells us how the meals were divided into appetizers, entrees and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. He also informs us how the chefs of Roman times made use of many different aromatic flavors, including a few you will know for example basil, rue and asafoetida. Later, we find a couple of cookery books from the fourteenth century ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these books are unconnected to the spicy food that we all know today, but instead descriptions of the types of meals prepared for the upper classes of the period. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods, spices and herbs from the holy lands, including spices like rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new foods and spices created an eruption in manuscripts on cookery, the majority of which are kept safe in academic collections. During the following few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy competed to lay on the best banquets, and consequentially the best chefs and their recipe collections could command a high salary. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cooking and cookery books reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to assembling, verifying, and recording recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the time we get to the 1900s, cook books were highly popular due to better eduction, people having increased leisure time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Chinese Steamed Cracked Crabs recipe.
