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Preparation
40 minutes
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Cooking
50 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Steamed crab with salt is a delicious, attractive dish that still retains the characteristic sweetness of seafood. You can prepare it at home and it will taste just as good as at restaurants. What are you waiting for? Let’s get in the kitchen and make this steamed dish right away!
Ingredients for Steamed Crab with Salt For 4 people
Sea crab 1.2 kg (4 crabs) Rock salt 1 kg Lemongrass 10 stalks Lemon 1 fruit Chili 2 fruits Common seasoning A little (Salt/ sugar/ monosodium glutamate/ seasoning powder/ ground pepper)
How to choose fresh, firm crabs
- First, you should observe the color of the silk skin in the joint (elbow) on the crab’s claw; crabs with a lot of meat usually have a pink-red or dark pink color. Moreover, closely observing this part, fresh crabs will have a certain shine.
- Touch the crab’s belly; if it feels firm and the belly is large, it indicates a meaty crab. Additionally, if you squeeze the swimming legs and the crab struggles strongly, it means the crab is fresh and the meat is good.
- You should not choose crabs with soft shells because the meat and roe will not be delicious. Also, avoid crabs that no longer move, as they may be dead, and the crab meat will no longer be fresh.
How to Prepare Salted Steamed Crab
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Prepare the crab
After buying the crab, place it into a bowl, fill it with water to cover the crab. Then, add ice cubes and soak for 20 – 30 minutes.
While soaking the crab in ice water, remove the crab’s bindings, and use a toothbrush to scrub the top, bottom, and between the claws to remove algae stuck on it.
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the lemongrass, cut off the roots and leaf tops, leaving a stalk about 40cm long (about 2 hand spans). Then crush it and use a knife to cut the stalk in half.
Wash the lemon and cut it in half. Wash the chili, cut, and chop it finely.
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Make lime and pepper salt
First, add 1 spoon of salt into a plate, then add 1 tablespoon of ground pepper and 1/3 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, and mix the above mixture well.
Squeeze the lime to extract the juice and add it to the mixture along with the minced chili that has been prepared. Then, stir well to combine the seasonings together.
Tip: Before squeezing the lime for juice, you should roll it hard on the cutting board to make it easier to extract juice and get more juice.
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Steamed Salt Crab
First, place a pot on the stove. Pour all 1kg of coarse salt that you have prepared into the pot and use a spoon to spread it evenly. Next, add the smashed lemongrass evenly over the coarse salt, starting with the leaves and then gradually adding the remaining lemongrass.
Place 4 crabs upside down into the pot, so that when steaming, the seasoning is evenly absorbed into the crabs, then add 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, 1 tablespoon of seasoning mix, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then cover the pot.
After 30 minutes, use a chopsticks to turn the crabs over and continue steaming for another 10 – 15 minutes, then turn off the heat.
Note: Arrange the crabs evenly in the pot, avoiding overlapping to ensure the crabs are cooked evenly.
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Completion
Thus, the steamed salt crab is complete. The crab shells are bright red and look very attractive, with a fresh seafood sweetness inside, a bit of saltiness from the salt, and the fragrant smell of lemongrass. The method is simple but still retains the fresh and delicious flavor typical of sea crabs.
Above is the recipe for salted crab that TasteVN wants to share with you. A super delicious dish, rich in the fresh sweetness of seafood and also simple to make. Wishing you success with this recipe!
