Thai chilli-dressed crab with grapefruit salad

Thai chilli-dressed crab with grapefruit salad

Wonderfully fresh, sweet crab makes a great partner for zesty lime and Thai chilli heat. Buy the crabs whole, crack them yourself and then serve in the shells for a luxurious summer lunch.

Thai chilli-dressed crab with grapefruit salad

Cool down with more heatwave recipes.

  • Serves icon Serves 4 for lunch
  • Time icon Hands-on time 45-50 min

Wonderfully fresh, sweet crab makes a great partner for zesty lime and Thai chilli heat. Buy the crabs whole, crack them yourself and then serve in the shells for a luxurious summer lunch.

Cool down with more heatwave recipes.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
387kcals
Fat
21.2g (3.2g saturated)
Protein
40g
Carbohydrates
7.1g (6.3g sugars)
Fibre
3.5g
Salt
2.1g

Ingredients

  • 4 x small (about 800g each, as in picture) or 2 x medium (about 1.2kg each) cooked crabs, or 300g white crabmeat and 150g brown
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • Juice 2 limes
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 5cm fresh ginger, grated
  • Bunch coriander, leaves picked
  • 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 ripe avocado, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise

For the salad

  • 100g rocket
  • 1 grapefruit, peeled and segmented, juice reserved
  • 1/2 cucumber, diced
  • Extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle
Sticky screen? No thanks! Tap to prevent your screen from going off while cooking.

Method

  1. First prepare the crabs: put a cooked crab on a chopping board on its back. Twist off the legs and claws and set aside. Put your thumbs against the hard shell close to the tail and carefully prise the main body section away from the shell. This can require a little persistence with larger crabs.
  2. Discard the greyish stomach sac near the mouth. Discard the ‘dead men’s fingers’ – the long white/grey gills – which are inedible.
  3. Carefully remove all the white and brown meat, keeping them separate: crack the claws with a rolling pin, small hammer or nutcracker and use a skewer to pick out the meat. Check all the crevices in the body for white meat. Be careful to remove all small pieces of shell. Repeat with the other crab(s). Clean the main shells and keep for serving.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine the chilli, juice of 1½ limes, fish sauce, ginger, most of the coriander, chilli sauce and avocado. Stir in the white meat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir the mayonnaise and remaining lime juice into the brown meat and season with black pepper.
  5. For the salad, combine the rocket, grapefruit and cucumber in a bowl, then pour over the reserved grapefruit juice and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Divide the 2 mixtures equally among the shells, if you have them, or spoon onto plates. Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve with the salad.

Nutrition

Calories
387kcals
Fat
21.2g (3.2g saturated)
Protein
40g
Carbohydrates
7.1g (6.3g sugars)
Fibre
3.5g
Salt
2.1g

delicious. tips

  1. Keep the paper the crabs usually come wrapped in and spread out before removing the crabmeat to minimise mess. A rolling pin is ideal to break open the claws. This recipe works brilliantly as a canapé too. Spread the brown crabmeat on thin pieces of sourdough, then top with the dressed white meat. Squeeze over lime and serve straightaway.

    Half the recipe will be enough for about 30 canapés.

  2. This dish is best eaten straightaway but you can remove the crabmeat a few hours before. Store the brown and white meat separately in sealed containers or non-reactive bowls covered with cling film, in the fridge. Add the seasonings and make the salad just before serving.

Buy ingredients online

Subscribe

Fancy getting a copy in print?

Subscribe to our magazine

Rate & review

Rate

Reviews

Share a tip

Or, how about...?

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Crab recipes

Crab and papaya slaw salad with coriander nahm jim

”A proper pick-me-up salad combining crab with a punchy, sweet...

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Spaghetti with fresh crab

This spaghetti and crab recipe looks impressive – and no...

Subscribe to our magazine

Food stories, skills and tested recipes, straight to your door... Enjoy 5 issues for just £5 with our special introductory offer.

Subscribe

Unleash your inner chef

Looking for inspiration? Receive the latest recipes with our newsletter

We treat your data with care. See our privacy policy. By signing up, you are agreeing to delicious.’ terms and conditions. Unsubscribe at any time.