Stir Fried Crab Curry
This is a Thai dish that uses fresh ingredients as well as a packet of stir fry curry. The curry paste is a Thai brand, Lobo, and is available in the US in Asian markets. Lots of photos for this but this comes together very quickly. This is based on using a large wok but is not needed if you do not have one, and most ingredients are just estimated, there is no set rules for this. The curry sauce packet has instructions on the back in English, but they are NOT used for this dish, this recipe (guide really) is based on me watching a Thai family member prepare this.
Ingredients
- 1-2 kilos fresh crabs, blues or any swimmers are good (2-4 lb)
- 5-10 cloves garlic
- 1-2 palmfuls coarsely ground black pepper, be generous
- 1 onion
- 3-6 eggs
- 5-10 spring onions
- 1-2 bunches Thai celery, or Chinese celery
- cooking oil, as needed
Special Equipment
- large wok
Instructions
Preparation
- 1. Crabs: Remove the tail flaps and cut each crab in half, from head to tail area. 2. Onion: halve then chopped. 3. Spring Onion and Thai Celery including the tops: chopped into 1 to 2 inch pieces. 4. As an alternate to coarsely ground black pepper, use whole peppercorns and crush them in a mortar. 5. Eggs, lightly beaten. Once everything is prepped, we are ready to begin.
- Here is the curry sauce packet used.
- With Thai families, there is usually more than one person helping in the kitchen, often times the prep work is done by the whole family and the best cook prepares the dish or directs others to prepare it, basically teaching in action.
Let's Get Started
- Heat a splash of oil in your large wok or large pan on medium high heat. When hot, add the garlic, and since this is called a stir fry, so start stirring.
- When the when garlic is browned up a bit, add the crab, keep stirring.
- Sprinkle in about half of the black pepper, and you guessed it, keep stirring.
- And stirring.
- After a few minutes you will start seeing the shell turn red.
- Add the onion.
- And stir until the onion is softened up a bit, just a few minutes.
- Add the remaining black pepper and stir that in.
- Pour in the beaten eggs.
- Stir for 30 seconds or so to distribute some of the egg.
- Add the packet of curry sauce.
- Stir some more.
- Coming together beautifully. Liquid is water from the crabs as well as the sauce thinned out with that water.
- Add the spring onion and Thai celery. A note about the celery, if you cannot find Thai or Chinese celery, use regular celery but cut 1 stalk into 3-4 ling pieces then dice plus chop up about 2-3 tops.
- Stir again, almost done.
- And there you go, Stir Fried Crab Curry. From heating the wok to this, maybe 10 minutes. This is the reason to have everything prepped and ready to go.
- Pour everything onto a platter, ready to be served.
- And the cook himself with his wife, my wife is peeking out from the doorway.
- And honorable mention of the niece, she and my wife did the prep work for this dish.
Notes
Low cost as we did purchase the crabs direct from local fishermen.