Hodge Podge Kitchen

Monday, January 24, 2005

Am I really going to do with this???



I'm not a violent person. Really. Despite what I'm about to tell you. It's still crab season out here in the Bay Area and the prices are incredibly inexpensive. I believe 99 Ranch out in Daly City was selling them for $2.29 a pound. So it got me thinking, I never cooked crab before. When I want to have crab, I call my dad up and he cooks them for me. I've seen him cut it up and prepare it many times. So yesterday, I went and got one after work. As I'm driving home, the thought of actually cutting the crab up while it's alive begins to bother me. Yes people, I'm Chinese, that's how we cook crab. We don't just dump it in water and boil. And we definitely do not buy them precooked. Somehow, between avoiding getting caught by those scary looking craws and the guilt I'm starting to feel, I managed to do it. Not to say that it didn't disturb both Chris and me a bit. To spare all you sensitive souls out there, I won't go into any more details than that. I'll just show you what I did with it.


I decided to cook the crab simply. I was just looking at restaurants menu earlier and found one that served crab over cellophane noodles. That sounded like the perfect thing to soak up all the juice from the crab. I lined the noodle (soaked until soften in warm water) on the bottom of the pan, added the crab on top of it, and topped XO sauce (a spicy chili sauce made with dried shrimps and/or other dried seafood and bean paste). I then added a can of chicken broth and bring it up to a boil. Cover and steam for 10 minutes. Sprinkled with green onions and it's done.


The dish was definitely good. I just don't know if I could do it again. I'm not a violent person afterall.

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