AI-generated image
Pastel de jaiba
Crab and cheese bake
Pastel de jaiba: crab bake with milk-soaked bread and cheese
ChileanPastel de jaiba is the rich starter of the central coast's seafood restaurants, from Quintero to San Antonio: sweet crab meat folded into bread soaked in milk, cream and gently cooked onion, baked in individual clay dishes under a crust of cheese until it bubbles. Chileans use local jaiba crabs; any good cooked white and brown crab meat works. The mistake to avoid is leaving bits of shell in the crab; pick it over twice on a plate. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked bread lightly before mixing, so the pastel is creamy rather than soggy, and bake until it is bubbling and steaming in the middle.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 4 oz day-old white breadcrusts removed, torn
- 1 cup milk
- 1 oz butter
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 ⅛ lb cooked crab meatpicked over for shell
- ¾ cup single cream
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 2 ⅞ oz parmesan or goudagrated
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Soak 4 oz day-old white bread in 1 cup milk until soft.
10 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Melt 1 oz butter in a pan over a medium-low heat and cook 1 onion until soft and sweet, then stir in 1 tsp sweet paprika.
10 minStep 3: Squeeze the bread lightly, keeping the milk, and add it to the pan with 1 ⅛ lb cooked crab meat, ¾ cup single cream, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper and ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes. Stir over a low heat until thick and creamy, adding a little of the soaking milk if dry.
4 minStep 4: Spoon into 4 small ovenproof dishes and cover with 2 ⅞ oz parmesan or gouda.
Step 5: Bake until golden on top and bubbling at the edges, and steaming hot in the centre.
16 minStep 6: Rest for 3 minutes and serve with bread.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pastel de jaiba take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 30 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 milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish
Midia saganakiMussels with tomato and feta
Thessaloniki is Greece's mussel capital, with farms in the Thermaic Gulf a few kilometres from the seafront ouzeries where this two-handled pan arrives, still bubbling, at the table. Mussels steam open in a quick sauce of peppers, tomato and chilli, and crumbled feta melts into the juices at the end. Bread is essential. The classic version adds a splash of ouzo; this one is alcohol-free, using a pinch of fennel seed for that aniseed note (add 2 tbsp ouzo with the tomatoes if you like). Common mistake: overcooking — take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells open. Chef's tip: buy mussels on the day and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water.
Greek