Food
Josh Niland’s Hand Picked Spanner Crab Recipe
Preparation time
40 minutes
Cooking time
8 minutes
Serves
4
This dish combines the sweet and delicate nature of the picked crab meat and the richness of the glassy coral sauce. Match this with a smooth and velvet like Pinot Gris such as the Purple Hands Wines Pinot Gris 2017. Fresh from the Adelaide Hills, it shows precision and harmony thanks to super-ripe fruit giving juicy length and satin softness with a touch of beeswax on the finish.
Ingredients
- 4 whole live spanner crabs
- 100g of table salt for every 1L water
- Sourdough bread and butter to serve
Method
- Place 400g table salt and 4 litres of water in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.
- Add crabs and return to the boil. Cook for 6 minutes (adjust cooking time according to weight, for every 100g crab it represents 1 minute so if the crab is 600g that is 6mins + 2mins so 8mins in total.
- Remove crabs from boiling water to a clean surface and allow to rest for minimum 2mins before picking to allow the meat to continue to cook.
- Remove triangular flap underneath crab and lift top shell away from body, set aside shell and coral. Lift out and discard feathery gills. Wipe crab with a damp cloth to clean and clean out remaining coral. Cut crab in half horizontally. Pick meat from crab. Set aside.
- All coral that has been set aside from the top shell of the crab, decant through a fine sieve and gently warm this liquid in a saucepan until thick and glossy approximately 3mins on a medium heat.
- Combine salt and water to form a paste. Place on centre of serving plate, this is not for consumption but merely for presentation.
- Place clean crab shell on top of salt paste, re heat sauce (do not boil). Fill shell with crab meat and pour over sauce.
Wine Match: Purple Hands Wines Pinot Gris 2017