2024/12/15
Crab yolk sauce
(Hai Wong Jiong: Cantonese pronunciation)
Shanghai crab miso
It is said that the home environment has a huge impact on the formation of taste. There are many research papers on this topic, and the conclusion is that "children's tastes and food preferences are primarily formed during childhood."
Recently, when I was eating Shanghai crab with a friend from Hong Kong, I heard a very shocking story.
My friend said, "My family is a fisherman's family, so we don't eat seafood that isn't caught in the sea. My mother always told me that Shanghai crabs are lake crabs, so you shouldn't eat them, so it wasn't until I started working that I tried them for the first time."
I was surprised to see how different eating habits at home could lead to such differences in our attitudes and experiences, even though we were both born and raised in Hong Kong.
For me, Shanghai crabs have been a familiar delicacy of the season since childhood, but for my friend they were a completely unknown entity.
For example, I don't remember exactly when I first had crab miso noodles. It's the same as not remembering the first time you had miso soup.
There is a word called "national character," but even if people are from the same nation, don't you think their family environment and eating habits have a big impact on their personality formation and taste?
For as long as I can remember, the taste of Shanghai crab itself was already etched into my mind, and the taste of Xiaolongbao with Shanghai crab paste and Crab Yellow Noodles remains in my mind even now.
Recently, I found out on the Internet about a crab specialty restaurant in Shanghai called "Li Bai Crab." It seems that they sell a set that allows you to compare sauces made with different parts of the crab.
This sauce is called "Hai Won Jiong" and is made by deep-frying the shells of Shanghai crabs in lard to bring out their fragrant flavor, and using rich crab paste (crab yellows) and carefully shredded crab meat as the main ingredients. It is a luxurious sauce that is characterized by its rich and creamy taste that condenses all of the crab's flavor. Because it uses lard, it has a high shelf life, and is also available commercially in bottles.
When you pour the crab miso sauce over noodles or rice, the rich flavor of the crab miso will be mixed in, allowing you to enjoy a rich flavor in every bite. With the Li Bai Crab Tasting Set, you can enjoy the distinctive flavors of different parts of the crab.
Inspired by the set, I tried to make one myself. The sauce made from crab meat is delicate and sweet, while the sauce made from crab legs is strong and savory with a light saltiness. And the sauce made only from crab miso is rich and creamy, allowing you to enjoy the deep flavor of crab in every bite. By comparing the different flavors of each part, I was able to further appreciate the profound flavor of Shanghai crab.
Tips: This recipe uses snow crab. Add a little cane sugar to the crab miso sauce.
Ingredients
1 cup of snow crab
Carrots: 3 times the weight of the crab meat
Lard: 4 times the weight of the crab meat
1 green onion (green part)
Ginger: 10% of the weight of each part
Shaoxing wine (as needed)
Salt to taste
Fish sauce (as needed)
Chicken soup (as needed)
Preparation
Crab Processing
- Break apart the crab meat, legs, and miso.
・Keep the shell and husk.
Preparing the vegetables
・Chop the carrots roughly.
- Finely chop the ginger.
Method
Crab oil preparation
-Heat the lard in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add the shredded crab shells, reduce heat to low and fry slowly until fragrant.
-Remove the shells and strain the oil to make "crab oil".
How to make the base sauce
- Heat crab oil in a frying pan and add grated carrot and green onion.
- Fry the carrots until they turn orange, then remove and discard the scallions.
How to make each sauce
A. Crab meat sauce
- Add three times the amount of base sauce as crab meat to a frying pan, add the ginger, and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the shredded crab meat, add the Shaoxing wine and stir fry lightly over medium heat.
-Add the chicken soup and shake the pan while stirring to emulsify.
-Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and fish sauce.
Transfer to a clean container, cool and store.
B. Crab leg sauce
- Add three times the amount of base sauce as crab meat to a frying pan, add the ginger, and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the shredded crab legs, add the Shaoxing wine and stir fry lightly over medium heat.
-Add the chicken soup and shake the pan while stirring to emulsify.
-Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and fish sauce.
Transfer to a clean container, cool and store.
C. Crab with miso sauce
- Add three times the amount of base sauce as crab meat to a frying pan, add the ginger, and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the shredded crab legs, add the Shaoxing wine and stir fry lightly over medium heat.
-Add the chicken soup and shake the pan while stirring to emulsify.
-Taste and adjust seasoning with cane sugar, salt and fish sauce.
Transfer to a clean container, cool and store.
Wanjae
Culinary researcher. Born in Hong Kong. During her childhood, she ate her grandmother's home cooking on weekdays and her father's home cooking on weekends, whose hobby was cooking. After moving to Australia, she moved to Japan after getting married and has been living there for over 20 years. She is certified as a Chinese international herbalist, fermented food sommelier, and fermentation life advisor, and has a deep knowledge of food culture in both the Chinese-speaking world and Japan. She is currently working in Tokyo to spread the word about Hong Kong cuisine to the people of Japan.
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