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Dominica crab backs
Crab backs: spiced crab meat baked in the shell
In Dominica, crab backs are a celebration starter, especially around Independence Day in November: the island's land-crab meat is picked, seasoned with lime, chives, garlic, thyme and hot pepper, piled back into the cleaned shells, topped with breadcrumbs and baked until crisp. Land crabs are hard to come by and their season is protected, so this home version uses cooked crab meat. Buy it fresh or pasteurised from a trusted fishmonger, or cook your own live crabs, discarding any that are already dead or smell bad before cooking. The common mistake is drowning the crab in breadcrumbs; it should be mostly crab, held together lightly. Bake in cleaned crab shells or small ramekins. Chef's tip: mix in a little of the brown meat with the white for a richer, sweeter flavour.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 14 oz cooked crab meatwhite and brown, picked over for shell
- 3 tbsp vegetable oilplus extra to drizzle
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 cloves garliccrushed
- 3 tbsp chiveschopped
- 1 tsp thyme leaves
- ½ scotch bonnet pepperfinely chopped
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 ⅛ oz fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp parsleychopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
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What you'll need
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Set 4 cleaned crab shells or ramekins on a baking tray.
Step 2: Warm 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and soften 1 onion and 2 cloves garlic for 5 minutes. Add 3 tbsp chives, 1 tsp thyme leaves and ½ scotch bonnet pepper and cook 1 minute.
6 minStep 3: Take off the heat and mix in 14 oz cooked crab meat, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp parsley, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper and 1 oz fresh breadcrumbs.
Step 4: Pile the mixture into the shells, scatter over the rest of 1 oz fresh breadcrumbs and drizzle with a little oil.
Step 5: Bake for 15–20 minutes, until the tops are golden and crisp and the filling is piping hot in the middle. Serve with lime wedges.
18 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 23 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does dominica crab backs take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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