Sweet and sour mud crab

“Rachael Ciesiolka is known around town as the Queen of Mud Crab. Locals know Rachael's Seafood Shack at the Darwin fish markets is where to head to get the best seafood, cooked by the master.” – Justine Schofield, Outback Gourmet

Credit: Outback Gourmet

• serves

  1-2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 mud crab, cleaned
• 1 cup water

 

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• ¼ red capsicum, sliced
• ¼ green capsicum, sliced
• ½ small white onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
• ⅓ cup chilli sauce
• ⅓ cup Asian greens, chopped
• 1 lemon wedge

Instructions

1. Using a large knife break the crab into pieces, removing the legs.

2. Place a cake rack into a wok with the cup of water. Arrange the crab on the rack, ensuring it is not over crowded so that the steam can evenly move through the crab.  Loosely cover the crab with foil, place a lid over the crab and steam for 8 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Fry capsicum and onion until soft. Add chilli sauces and stir to heat through. Add Asian greens, stir until the greens have slightly softened then remove from heat. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon wedge and stir through.

4. Arrange the cooked crab with the chilli sauce to serve.

Former Masterchef contestant Rachael Ciesiolka runs Rachael’s Seafood Shack at Fishermans Wharf, Darwin, and also provides catering and cooking demonstrations through Rachael’s Cooks Night Off

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.