Last Days of Summer

I was never much for blue crab, but we have them live here too. How do you cook them, can I have one recipe? I'd love to give it another go.

As you know we have dungeness a plenty here in SF, I can make a crab to be cried on. Garlic Roasted, Salt and Pepper dry fried, Ginger and Green Onion, Black Bean Sauce, Roasted Crab on E-Fu noodles, BBQ Crab, or just plain old boiled crab. I've got a lot of friends in the restaurant business and they shared they're recipes. Granted Chinese chefs write nothing down, but the general idea is good enough, and then just add some personal twists and voila!

If and when my buddy brings back lobsters from Boston, or Maine, I'll cook them the same way too! OMG...the live lobsters from back East are super killer good!
 
I have always had blue crab just in a big boil sort of like crawfish or such. Never any of the interesting preperations like the really yummy ones you list used for Dungeness so I will leave it to some of the experts to offer their recipes.

I used to love wandering in China Town and there was a little tiny restaurant, I have forgotten the name but it was across the street from one of the big touristy "Dragon" restaurants and I knew how to find it. You had to go through the kitchen up the stairs to the tables. Best food EVER, but walking through the kitchen was both treat AND threat as everything smelled and looked so good but the chef was really hot tempered and would regularly throw knives at the assistants. Don't know if he ever hit one but man could he convince them to cook delicious stuff. I always just told the guy who took the orders Zhishi wulun chushi xiang yao fasong (what the chefs wants to send, or close enough to that) I was never disappointed some of the best meals I have eaten ever and I have eaten around the world...literally and in some of the most famous restaurants anywhere.

I think my 2 favorites for what you listed are the first and last LOL Garlic Roasted and plain old boiled crab though ALL of the ways you list are delicious and left overs (if there are ever such :P ) of any of them make really good open face toasted sandwiches once peeled, on Sourdough with some Havarti cheese on top. If you have a hankering to share any of those "recipes" please do. And I know what you mean by general idea. I have been trying to put together a decent Kung Pao recipe for ages but I just can't seem to translate the combinations into the exact flavor I am looking for usually too salty lately but getting closer.

I always kind of though Lobster was over hyped. I like it ok but I always prefer a good crab. But then I haven't really eaten a lot of them fresh from Maine so maybe I am missing the best choice.
 
Shavru - I'll throw in a recipe later today, need to head to work right about now.

The restaurant you talking about is Sam Wo, but they got closed down about 2 years ago. Health dept had quite a few citations issued, and the owner and landlord couldn't agree on how they were going to split the cost of the needed renovations.

Edsel the waitress on the 3rd floor passed away about 4 - 5 years ago. She was a friend of my grandparents, and I often would drive her home at 3:30am, if I ate there after a "night out on the town".
 
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I'll contact my buddy who owns Thanh Long and get his famous Garlic Roasted Crab recipe, which 10x better than mine. He'll never give up his secret Garlic Noodles, which go heavenly with the crab, but half a combo is better than none...lol.

I'll also post a fast black bean sauce crab that's rather easy. Some cheating involved, but easy and delectable.
 
Oh YUM!! I look forward to giving the recipes a try :) Such a small world that you would know and even be involved with that restaurant :D VERY sorry to hear about it and Edsel, I have many incredible memories of the place. I always wondered how they kept from getting shut down, not because of any lack of cleanliness or anything, just the whole layout of the building wasn't really "acceptable" no handicapped entrance, customers walking through the kitchen ect. I always figured the inspectors just couldn't bring themselves to cause that wonderful food to be unavailable. The world became a bit less wonderful place when it was closed and even though it has been at least 10 years since I was there, I mourn it's passing now that I know.
 
I usually walk out to the surf and fill up a pot of seawater and bring it to a boil with garlic, onions, oil, peppers, taters, and wild sage from behind the dunes (not where you pee), and when the taters are done throw the crabs in, bring back to boil, kill the fire, put the lid on and wait about twenty minutes and eat till you cant walk.
BBQ Crab is another fav. Use your favorite dry rub bbq mix and coat crab halves in the mix then just deep fat fry them. If you use the smaller crabs you can eat the whole thing shell and all. Of course you have to do it all on the beach or it dont taste the same:D For crispy french fries soak cut potatoes in seawater for a few hours then fry them. Great with fried fish.
Another is crab au gratin. Make it just like potatoes au gratin but add a pound or so of crab meat, grated parmesan on top and bake!
 
OK all, here is the crab recipes I promised. For all of you on the West coast, it should be a breeze to get the dungeness in about a month, the season starts around Thanksgiving!

Roasted Garlic Crab:
1 Dungeness Crab (cleaned and split in half or into 4 pieces and slightly cracked)
1 or 2 stick of unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic (roasted & softened)
1 chicken bouillon cube
¼ cup of sugar
Cracked black pepper to your liking
For the Crab: Preheat oven to 350 F.
Melt butter in a wok and add soft roasted garlic, bouillon cube, and sugar.
Add crab pieces and cover each piece very well with butter mixture.
Pour into roasting pan and bake for about 20 minutes.
Baste the crab with the sauce every 5 minutes.

Black Bean Sauce Crab:
1 Dungeness Crab
1 TSP Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Sauce
½ TSP Sugar
1 Raw Egg Scrambled
3 TSP Cooking Wine or Sherry
3 Whole Dry Thai Chillis (optional)

For the crab:
Boil crab in a pot of water for 15 minutes
Tear legs and claws off, separate body from shell, remove carapace, cut body in half, and then each halve into thirds. Leave shell whole, and pour out any liquid inside, keep the solid insides
Crack all legs and claws with the back of a cleaver
In a wok or large pot (Le Crueset of similar dutch oven):
Throw all crab pieces in, put Black Bean Sauce in, sugar, and stir for about 1 minutes (add chillis now if you’d like some spice)
Scramble the raw egg, pour into pot, stir the pot to make the egg stick to the crab pieces, and the black bean sauce to adhere to the egg
Pour wine or sherry into the pot, stir and cover the pot for another 5 minutes.
Remove and serve immediately.
 
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