16 September 2016

Oh, crab

Steamed crabs in spring onion-oyster sauce

My back’s acting up again, but I could not help myself. The mud crabs, see, they looked to go perfectly with the spring onion sauce that I served alongside grilled trevally the other day. And I was right too. Oh so painfully right.

If I had any concession to make, it was with my father. He prefers oyster sauce with crab, so I had to put that in as well. No problem. In a metal bowl (glass is okay, but not plastic, because of the hot oil later on), I combined two tablespoons each of oyster sauce and warm water, a teaspoon each of salt, sweet soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili oil, and a pinch of chili flakes (if you do not like it spicy, omit the last two). Then I minced a bunch of spring onions (₱10 worth), which I folded into the bowl. To finish, I poured three tablespoons of smoking peanut oil over the mixture (stand well back when you do this — there’s going to be some serious sizzle).

Steamed crabs in spring onion-oyster sauce

Simple, isn’t it? The basic recipe is even simpler: just minced spring onion, salt, and hot peanut oil. If you can not get hold of peanut oil (only Metro Ayala carries it in Cebu, as far as I know) or are allergic to peanut, you can use any neutral oil, plus a drizzle of sesame oil (unless you are allergic to that, too) to approximate the nuttiness of peanut oil, which I find essential to the sauce. As for my gout, well, I hear spring onion is anti-inflammatory.

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