Crab Omelet

Crab Omelet

Adapted from several Asian style recipes.
For this, I will use imitation crab meat, it is just fish, and I like it. This is based somewhat on Filipino and Thai Omelets. Some Filipino omelets cook the filling first and later added, and many Thai omelets are just flat with fillings added with the eggs, not folded, so let's combine these methods.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Breakfast, Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Servings 1 serving

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup imitation crab, slice at an angle, about ¼ inch thick slices
  • ½ onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons spring onion, sliced
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 eggs, whisked
  • salt and pepper, as desired

Instructions
 

  • Prep the crab meat, onion, and spring onion. Add the eggs to a bowl and whisk.
  • Heat the butter in a nonstick pan on medium high heat, when hot, add the onion, saute until almost soft.
  • Add the crab meat and spring onion, stir to mix together.
  • Pour in the whisked eggs to cover the pan and contents.
  • Cook for a few minutes to set the bottom, lift the sides to check and move the pan around. When the eggs are set, flip the omelet and cook the other side until golden brown.
  • Slide to a plate, serve with rice or toast, and enjoy.

Notes

Low cost.
Crab & Cheese Spring Rolls

Crab & Cheese Spring Rolls

Pups with Chopsticks, Joyce.
These are delicious and easy to prepare. Keep in mind, this is in no way Chinese. The number of spring rolls you make from this will depend on the size of the wrappers you use, either 8.5 x 8.5 inch or 5.5 x 5.5 inch, either size will work. I used 5.5 x 5.5 inch wrappers and made 15 spring rolls, so using the larger ones, you will make less.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 15 spring rolls

Ingredients
  

  • 15 spring roll wrappers
  • 250 grams imitation crab sticks, (8 oz)
  • 250 grams Cream cheese, room temp, (8 oz)
  • ¾ cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
  • 2-3 tabelspoons mayo
  • 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2-3 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1-2 tablespoons water
  • sweet chili sauce, for serving, or dipping sauces of your choice

Instructions
 

  • If your spring roll wrappers are frozen, take them out and place on the counter for 1-2 hours before you start. Take out the cream cheese, unwrap that and place in a mixing bowl for about an hour, to come up to room temperature and soften, or use a spreadable cream cheese.
  • Unwrap the crab sticks and chop them, then shred or break them apart with your fingers. Here they are just chopped, not shredded yet.
  • Prep the spring onion and garlic.
  • Mash up the cream cheese up with a heavy spoon to get it mixable.
  • To the bowl, add the mayo, Mozzarella cheese, Worcestershire sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. Mix to combine.
  • Add the crab, garlic, and spring onion.
  • Mix to combine, now your filling is ready. Go ahead and mix together the corn starch and water in a small bowl, this is your glue to seal the edges of the spring rolls.
  • Rolling, for this step, it is best to have two people, one to pull the wrappers, one to roll. Lay a spring roll wrapper, smooth side down on the counter with one corner pointed towards you. Place about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of filling near the corner closest to you. Fold the corner nearest you up and over the filling and roll away until you are at the widest point of the wrapper. Use your fingers and dip into the glue and rub that on the two side that are away from you, be generous. Now fold one side, left or right, towards the middle, the repeat with the other side, now it should look like an open envelope. Now continue rolling away from you to complete the roll. If the point flap does not stay glued down, just dab a bit more glue on it. Repeat until the filling is all used. Once you have done this a few times this actually goes pretty fast. The reason for the two people is you do not want the wrappers drying or they will tear when pulling them apart. If only you are making these, cover the wrappers with a damp towel while you roll each one.
  • Completed spring rolls.
  • When you are ready to fry them, heat about ½ inch of oil in a pan, you want it hot but not smoking. When the oil is hot, fry 4 to 5 rolls at a time until golden brown then turn over until the other side is golden brown. Drain on paper towels and continue frying in batches until all are cooked. Keep in mind, the filling in these is soft and some rolls may ooze a bit of cheese and filling into oil, that accounts for the dark specks you see on the rolls, just cosmetic, no harm.
  • Serve with sweet chili sauce for dipping, or other sauces of your choice. Enjoy as an appetizer or even as a main dish. These are excellent even without a dipping sauce.

Notes

The crab sticks are 52 Baht, the cream cheese is 108 Baht for Caroline brand (Thai), and figure about 60 Baht for the Mozzarella. For 15 spring rolls, this is about 48 cents per spring roll. If using and import brand of cream cheese, figure about 60 cents per spring roll. Figure 1-2 rolls as a serving as an appetizer (Low cost), and 3-4 rolls as a main dish with a nice side. (High cost).
Crab Pasta Salad

Crab Pasta Salad

Lee
I like pasta salads as they are easy to make and can be dressed up any way you like. This is something I just threw together and it was well liked.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish, Side
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams dry spiral pasta, or any bite size pasta you like, (8 oz)
  • 500 grams imitation crab, cut into bite size pieces, (1 lb)
  • 4-5 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 handful fresh dill, chopped
  • mayo, as needed
  • black pepper, as desired, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and then add the pasta. Cook until tender. Drain and run under cold water, drain and let set in the colander for a few minutes to drain very well. Place in a large mixing bowl.
  • Add the crab, spring onion, and dill.
  • Ad 2 big spoonfuls of mayo and gently mix into the salad to coat everything in mayo, add more as needed to get the consistency you desire. Goal is well coated, not dripping, in mayo. Season with black pepper as desired. Cover and place in the fridge to chill for several hours, serve with any main dish or as is for a light meal.

Notes

The imitation crab will cost 52 Baht/250 grams, 104 for 500 grams. The pasta I used was Fusilli (spiral) from Italy for 35 Baht/250 grams. For 6 servings, this is about 72 cents per serving.
Crab Rangoon Spring Rolls

Crab Rangoon Spring Rolls

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Crab Rangoon is not Chinese in origin, it as American. This recipe uses imitation crab which is left whole, not chopped, and simply rolled in spring roll wrappers. The dipping sauce in combination with the fried spring rolls = Crab Rangoon Spring Rolls. Feel free to use dipping sauces of your choice and simply call these Crab Stick Spring Rolls.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Dipping Sauce

  • 250 grams Cream cheese, 1 package, room temperature, (8 oz)
  • 1-2 tablespoons mayo, and as needed
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha Chili Garlic sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 spring onion, finely sliced, white and green parts

For the Spring Rolls

  • 500 grams imitation crab, (1 lb)
  • 1 package spring roll wrappers, thawed, you will have leftovers from this
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • lard, or cooking oil, for frying

Instructions
 

For the Dipping Sauce

  • Add the cream cheese to a bowl and mash with a sturdy fork, add the Sriracha, spring onion, mayo, and soy sauce.
  • Mash with the fork, adding more mayo as needed to achieve the consistency you want. Set this aside.

For the Spring Rolls

  • The only prep work is unwrapping each crab stick. Unwrap the sticks from the entire package. I ended up with 38 sticks (a cat stole 1 and there was one left over, quick snack for me). You will use all the sticks, you won't use all the wrappers. Place the sticks in a bowl, and in a small bowl, mix together the water and cornstarch to make a slurry.
  • Two people is very handy to do this step, one to pull the the pastry apart and the other rolling the spring rolls. Spring roll wrappers are very thin pastry, and if doing this by yourself, place a damp towel on the unused sheets while you roll, if they start to dry, they will be hard to pull apart and will tear. This will actually go by rather quickly now.
    Note: Spring roll wrappers come in two sizes, 8½ x 8½ inches and 5½ x 5½ inches. If using the larger sheets, which is show here, use 3 crab sticks, if using the smaller size use 2 crab sticks.
  • Open the package of spring roll sheets. Carefully pull off one sheet and place smooth side down on a clean counter with one corner of the sheet facing you. Use two fingers and dip into the slurry then rub your fingers the two sides of the pastry that are farthest from you. Place 3 crab sticks near the corner nearest you.
  • Fold the corner of the pastry onto the crab sticks.
  • Tightly roll the sticks up to just before you get to the widest part of the pastry.
  • Now fold the the left and right corners towards the middle.
  • Continue to roll, place on a plate. Repeat for as crab sticks you have. I made 12.
  • Heat a large pan with about 1/2 inch of lard or cooking oil.
  • When hot but not smoking, fry the spring rolls for about 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown (shallow deep fry). Remove to paper towels to drain, continue frying, working in batches until all the spring rolls are fried. Repackage the unused spring roll wrappers and return to the freezer.
  • Serve and enjoy.

Notes

Tesco brand crab sticks, which taste perfectly acceptable, will cost about 95 Baht for 500 grams. Cream cheese will cost about 120 Baht (Caroline brand). I made 12 spring rolls, figure 2 spring rolls per serving as a snack or appetizer, or 6 servings. This is about $1.08 per serving.
Basic Crab Salad

Basic Crab Salad

Lee
I use imitation crab for this for this for several reasons, 1. I like it, 2. good sized black crabs are hard to get as nearly all are sold to restaurants. Crab salad is commonly called 'Seafood Salad' which I would say is incorrect as the only seafood is the crab, or in my case, fish that tastes like crab (yes, imitation crab is just fish). So Crab Salad it is, sounds much better than "Fish Flavored Like Crab Salad." You can make this many ways so it is different each time. This is just a common salad I put together. Enjoy.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams imitation crab, (1 lb)
  • 1 red onion, finely diced
  • ½ cup celery, finely diced
  • ½ cup mayo, start with less and use as needed
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon dill
  • teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Unwrap the crab sticks and slice them at an angle, add to mixing bowl.
  • Dice the onion and celery and add to the bowl. (Chopped cilantro works well if no celery on hand, which is what I used.)
  • Add remaining ingredients, but for the mayo, start with less than 1/2 cup. Gently mix everything together until all is coated with mayo, adding mayo as needed but not trying to make it dripping with mayo as well.
  • Cover and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving. (Once I put the salad in a container for the fridge, I added some halved cherry tomatoes and mixed those in.)
  • When serving, gently mix the salad again. then serve. Serving options can be just as a side, on a bed of lettuce, or in a sandwich. Enjoy.

Notes

Tesco brand crab sticks, which taste perfectly acceptable, will cost about 95 Baht for 500 grams. For 4 servings this is about 68 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Add halved cherry tomatoes. 2. No celery on hand? No problem, add ½ teaspoon of celery seed if you have that or use chopped cilantro. 4. Add ¼ cup sliced black olives. 5. Add ½ cup grated or cubed Cheddar cheese.
Crab Cakes II

Crab Cakes II

Stephen Connell, United States.
Sounds good, recipe calls for 2 pounds of flaked crab meat, I am going to try this with imitation crab as well and will post my findings using this.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo crab meat, I will verify when I use imitation, (2 lb)
  • cups fine breadcrumbs
  • cup mayo
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • teaspoon Creole seasoning
  • teaspoon chili powder, just a pinch really
  • all purpose flour, as needed for frying
  • cooking oil, your preference, for frying

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl, add everything, and time to get your hands dirty, reach in there and mix everything together well.
  • Form into 4 oz (115 gram) patties. (shape into balls then flatten).
  • Heat a non stick pan with about ½ to 1 inch of cooking oil in it. When hot, flip each patty in flour to coat, and place in the hot pan, cook, flipping once, until golden brown on each side, enjoy.

Notes

I will have to price imitation and fresh crab for this recipe, for now I will say Fair value.
Crab Rangoon Ravioli

Crab Rangoon Ravioli

Spend with Pennies, Holly, Canada.
No, this is not a crab and cream cheese wonton in a ravioli, how odd would that be? Think of Crab Rangoon filling in a ravioli, how awesome does that sound? Inspired by a conversation with the recipe author at Spend With Pennies.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 20 ravioli

Ingredients
  

For the Filling

  • 125 grams Cream cheese, (4 oz)
  • 140 grams crab meat, see For the Filling Step 1 (5 oz)
  • 1-2 spring onions, thinly sliced, white and green
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • pasta sauce of your choice, for serving

For the Egg Pasta Dough

  • cups all purpose flour
  • 2 eggs, chicken or duck
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar

Instructions
 

For the Egg Pasta Dough

  • In a large bowl, add the flour and mix in the salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and crack in the eggs. Use your fingers to slowly mix the eggs and flour together until it forms a ball, it will come together. Knead the dough for just a few minutes, adding flour if it starts to get sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge while you prep the filling.

For the Filling

  • For the crab, you can use canned (drained), fresh picked, or even imitation. If using imitation, just cut each crab stick into ¼ inch pieces and use your hands to break them apart, very easy.
  • Mix up the filling in a bowl, room temp, you want the filling to be good and soft as you are going fill some raviolis with this. Cover and set the filling aside.

To Assemble the Ravioli

  • Feel free to make your ravioli in squares, rounds, or half moons, your preference. For this recipe, I will use a 3 inch dumpling press.
  • Take your dough from fridge and cut into quarters. Using 1 piece of dough, flour a work surface and roll out the dough with a rolling pin, get it as thin as you can.
  • When the dough is rolled out, cut circles just a bit larger than the press.
  • Take a circle and flip it over and place on the press, push down in the center to fit the press, then press along the edges to make sure dough it tight on the press.
  • Take about a teaspoon of filling and place in the center of the press. Use a brush and brush one side of the edge of the press with water.
  • Fold the press in half and squeeze to crimp the edge, any of the dough that comes out from the press, just scrape off with a knife. Open the press and remove the ravioli and place on a lightly floured plate.
  • Take the leftover dough, form into a ball, roll out and repeat the steps. I used 2 pieces of dough from the original ball and made 15 ravioli.

To Cook and Serve

  • Use any sauce you like, prepare your sauce or used jarred, your preference. A tomato pasta sauce, or an Alfredo sauce.
  • When your sauce is simmering, go ahead and cook the ravioli.
  • Heat a pot of salted water to boiling. Add some ravioli using a slotted spoon without over crowding the pot, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate.
  • Ladle on your sauce, and enjoy.

Notes

The Cream cheese will cost about 60 Baht/125 grams. The imitation crab will cost about 50 Baht/140 grams. (When I buy fresh crab, I will price this once I pick 140 grams.) Figure 3 servings, this is about $1.08 per serving.
Crab Rangoon Grilled Sandwich

Crab Rangoon Grilled Sandwich

Spend with Pennies, Holly, Canada.
No, this is not a sandwich with the crab and cream cheese wontons grilled between bread, think of the filling grilled between bread 😉 These are delicious! Inspired by a conversation with the recipe author at Spend With Pennies.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 125 grams Cream cheese, (4 oz)
  • 140 grams crab meat, see Step 1, (5 oz)
  • 1-2 spring onions, thinly sliced, white and green
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • sliced bread, as needed
  • mayo, or butter, as needed

Instructions
 

  • For the crab, you can use canned (drained), fresh picked, or even imitation. If using imitation, just cut each crab stick into 1/4 inch pieces and use your hands to break them apart, very easy.
  • Mix up the filling in a bowl, room temp, you want the filling to be good and soft as you are going to spread this on bread. Heat a non stick pan on medium low or low heat.
  • Spread some mayo or butter on two slices of bread, place one slice, mayo side down on parchment paper, spread some filling on that slice, be generous, then top with the second slice of bread, mayo side up. Place in the hot pan.
  • When the bottom is golden brown, flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
  • Remove from pan, cut in half from corner to corner, or best you can with homemade bread, serve.
  • Repeat for additional sandwiches.
  • Serve and enjoy.

Notes

The Cream cheese will cost about 60 Baht/125 grams. The imitation crab will cost about 50 Baht/140 grams. (When I buy fresh crab, I will price this once I pick 140 grams.) Figure 3 servings, this is about $1.08 per serving.
Crab Rangoon

Crab Rangoon

Spend with Pennies, Holly, Canada.
To clear things up, this is not Chinese in origin, this is American, but does sound really good, as I love Cream cheese and crab, but I will use imitation crab for starters, easier to get and lower cost.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 18 wontons

Ingredients
  

  • 140 grams canned crab, drained (5 oz), see Step 1
  • 125 grams Cream cheese, (4 oz)
  • 1 spring onion, thinly sliced, white and green
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 18-20 wonton wrappers
  • cooking oil, for frying

Instructions
 

  • For the crab, you can use canned (drained), fresh picked, or even imitation. If using imitation, just cut each crab stick into ¼ inch pieces and use your hands to break them apart, very easy.
  • In a small bowl, add the Cream cheese, crab, spring onion, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until combined.
  • Lay out a wonton wrapper, place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Base this on the size of your wontons. The wrappers I use are about 3 inches on each side.
  • Wet your finger in a small bowl of water and run it across the 4 edges, need to dip your finger in water a few times doing this.
  • Now, pull up two opposite corners and press them together to seal the top,
  • Now bring up the other two corners and seal them at the top and press together the 4 seams to seal them as well. Place the wonton on a sheet of parchment.
  • Repeat for the remaining wontons.

To Deep Fry

  • Heat about 1 to 1½ inches of cooking oil in a large deep pan or a heavy pot. You want the oil hot but not smoking.
  • Carefully place the wontons in the hot oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, do not overload the pan, until nice and golden brown. Remove wontons to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining wontons. My wife is cooking the wontons on the left, I am cooking some fish on the right.

To Bake

  • Preheat your oven to 220° C (425° F)
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. and arrange wontons in an orderly fashion. Spray with cooking oil, a oil mister would be perfect for this, for folks in the US, feel free to use a cooking spray of your choice.
  • Another option is to lightly, and I mean lightly, brush each wonton with oil. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Keep in mind baked will not be as crispy as the deep fried, but just as good in flavor.
  • Serve with dipping sauces of your choice.
  • I served these as a side with some fish and long beans I cooked.

Notes

The Cream cheese will cost about 60 Baht/125 grams. The imitation crab will cost about 50 Baht/140 grams. (When I buy fresh crab, I will price this once I pick 140 grams.) Figure 6 servings (3 each 6 people for appetizers), this is about 54 cents per serving.
Crab Bisque

Crab Bisque

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sounds good, and reasonable enough to use imitation crab for cost saving instead of lump crap, which is what I will do the first time I make this to verify the consistency of the bisque. There is several shortcuts for additional savings. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • cups milk
  • 1 can condensed cream of asparagus soup, Shortcut
  • 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, Shortcut
  • ½ cup whipping cream
  • 170 grams lump crab meat, drained, (6 oz)
  • fresh chives, chopped, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • In a large sauce pan, mix together the milk, soups, and cream, bring to a boil stirring often, then reduce to a simmer.
  • Stir in the crab meat and warm through.
  • Serve garnished with chives sprinkled on top and crackers or bread on the side.

Notes

I will price this when I either pick some fresh crabs (cheapest way) or buy lump crab meat frozen. This should be easily low cost.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Asparagus Soup, Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.