AI-generated image
Typhoon shelter crab
Bei fung tong chau haai (避風塘炒蟹): Hong Kong crab fried with crispy garlic and chilli
Typhoon shelter crab comes from the boat people of Causeway Bay, who cooked for visitors on sampans moored in the harbour's storm shelters, and Hong Kong restaurants still serve it piled under a golden mountain of fried garlic. Crab pieces are dusted in starch and fried, then tossed in a wok with a huge amount of crisp garlic, dried chilli, fermented black beans and spring onion. Chef's tip: fry the garlic slowly over a medium heat; it should turn golden and crunchy, never dark, or it tastes bitter.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the crab
- 4 tbsp cornflour
- 4 ¼ cups vegetable oil for frying
For the garlic crumb
- 2 bulbs garlicpeeled and finely chopped (about 120 g)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 ⅛ oz panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp fermented black beansrinsed and chopped
- 6 dried red chilliescut into pieces
- 2 fresh red chillisliced
- 4 spring onionssliced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
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: Buy live 2 ⅝ lb live mud crab or brown crab (or freshly frozen raw crab) on the day you cook it; it must be lively. Chill it in the freezer for 1–2 hours until it is completely still and insensible, then kill it quickly by pushing a knife firmly into the centre on the underside. Never cook a crab that died before cooking.
90 minStep 2: Scrub the crab, pull off the top shell and remove the feathery gills and stomach sac. Cut the body into quarters and crack the claws with the back of a heavy knife. Pat dry and dust with 4 tbsp cornflour.
15 minStep 3: Heat 4 ¼ cups vegetable oil for frying in a wok or deep pan, no more than a third full, to 350°F. Fry the crab in batches for 4–5 minutes until the shell is bright red and the meat is white and opaque. Drain on a rack. Never leave hot oil unattended.
12 minStep 4: In a separate wok heat ¾ cup vegetable oil over a medium heat and fry 2 bulbs garlic, stirring constantly, for 5–7 minutes until golden and crisp. A common mistake is a too-hot pan; burnt garlic ruins the dish. Add 2 ⅛ oz panko breadcrumbs and keep stirring for 2 minutes until golden.
9 minStep 5: Add 1 tbsp fermented black beans, 6 dried red chillies and 2 fresh red chilli and stir for 1 minute. Add the crab, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and toss for 2 minutes until the crab is coated and hot.
3 minStep 6: Toss in 4 spring onions and pile onto a platter, spooning all the garlic crumb over the crab. Give everyone crackers and finger bowls.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 34 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does typhoon shelter crab take?
- About 55 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of cornflour?
- Arrowroot or potato starch, same amount.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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