Sunday 8 March 2009

RECIPE: GOLDEN FRAGRANT (KAM HEONG) CRABS


I saw this recipe at my friend Hazila’s blog and I could not wait to try it as it looked delicious. And I was not disappointed! The dish is a fusion between a sambal and a curry and the addition of the oyster sauce, lemon grass and curry leaves gives it a totally different flavour and sensation.

I did change the weights of some ingredients to compensate for the extra crabs I was using and to tone down the ‘heat’ for my kids. The result – totally sensational!!! Thank you Hazila.

BTW, KAM HEONG is a Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) word and it literally translates to gold fragrant, which is synonymous to this dish.


Ingredients

4 crabs – cleaned and fried in oil till golden brown
* 200 gm shallots
* 1 large head of garlic
* 11 to 15 Serrano chillies - depending on how hot you want your dish
* Large handful dried shrimps - soaked in warm water to soften then drained
* Large handful dried red chillies – de-seeded and soaked in boiling water to soften. Drain before using
3 stalks lemongrass - thinly sliced
1 stalk torch ginger (bunga kantan) - thinly sliced (I didn’t use any as my grocer did not have any available)
2 tbsp of fish curry powder (I used Baba Brand)
2 tbsp oyster sauce (see my GLOSSARY post on OYSTER SAUCE)
2 stalks curry leaves
Salt and sugar to taste
100 to 200 ml water


Method

Blend all the * ingredients in a blender with minimal water. Fry the crabs and set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok and add the curry leaves. Fry for 10 secs and add the blended ingredients. Fry till fragrant and till paste has slightly thickened.

Add in the curry powder and oyster sauce. Fry till the oils seeps through the paste.

Add in the water, lemon grass and torch ginger if using. Gently simmer for 2 to 3 mins.

Next add in salt and sugar to taste, followed by the crabs. Mix well and cook until the crabs are heated through and fully cooked.

Serve hot with rice or crusty bread.

TIP: Cooking crabs tend to be messy especially if you have to deep fry them. I therefore find it easier and less messy to cook crabs outside on my BBQ's wok burner.

Also, do not use any good non stick pans or wok to cook your crabs as the crab claws could scrape the non stick off. I therefore use an old wok to cook them.

9 comments:

Zue Murphy said...

I love crab in any way it is cook. This dish look delicious.

hazila said...

Hi Vin,
Thank you for trying the recipe. It makes me want to cook it again.

VG said...

Hi Zue, I love crabs too but it is so much hard work and messy to eat. By the time I finish eating, I am hungry gain, he!he!

Hazila, really yummy recepi. Thank you so much for sharing. I have some leafover kuah which I am going to fry some eggs and add to it. Watch this space.

tigerfish said...

I almost love crab anyway too...except raw...heee heee ;p

VG said...

Tigerfish, I agree with you there!!!

Anonymous said...

sorry to say that the recipe you posted is not the real authentic kam heong crab recipe

VG said...

Anonymous....never purported to claim that it is authentic....and in this day and age and globalisation....what can be said about authenticity anymore????

FYI, chinese food in Malaysia is totally different from that cooked in Australia, US or the UK. I can say that with surety as I have been there and tasted dishes with the same name with totally different taste!?

Li Lavannya said...

Hi There,

Came across your blog when I was searching for a kam Heong Chicken recipe. As we are indians, my husband wanted something more "kao" than the other images of the Kam heong Chicken - so I did add the bunga Kantan, Serai and blended paste of Onion, Garlic and Chilly Padi besides the paste of Chicken curry powder, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar and the chicken marinate of corn flour, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. The recipe turned out to be a hit amongst my very hard to please critics. So thanking you for your awesome recipe and the post.

VG said...

Hi Li, glad you liked it and my pleasure.