Preparing Crab Oil
Seasoned crab oil that is easy to store and can be used to flavor cooked dishes or noodles.
Ingredients
live crab (washed and scrubbed clean; remove the roe and meat after steaming)
2 × 500 g plus 5 liang
Chinese yellow rice wine
1 liang
scallion (crushed)
5 qian
rendered pork lard
1 × 500 g
ginger (crushed)
1 liang
Instructions
1
Prepare the crab
Thoroughly wash and scrub the live crabs, then tie them with kitchen string. Steam them in a steamer, or boil them in a pot, for about 20 minutes until cooked. Remove the crabs and cut off the pointed tips of the claws. Pry open the shells and use bamboo strips to remove the crab roe and meat. Discard the stomachs, crush the legs, and pick out the leg meat. Crush the scallion and ginger.
2
Cook the crab oil
Place a pot over the heat and heat the rendered pork lard until it is very hot, at about 80% of full heat. Add the scallion and ginger, frying until the scallion is golden brown and the ginger no longer releases moisture. Remove them, then add the crab meat and roe to the oil in small batches; adding too much at once causes excess moisture and heavy foaming. Continuously move the mixture from the edges toward the bottom of the pot with a spatula to prevent sticking and scorching. Gradually pour in the rice wine while cooking.
