Tag Archives: crab dip

I’m still in semi-holiday mode at the moment, hence my recent lack of posting, commenting and interaction on social media. Between the hot weather, making the most of the school holidays, and my current obsession with reading film and TV scripts late into the night (try here, here and here) I’ve been happily achieving some kind of work-life balance for a change. I’ve even been swimming or walking most days, which is nothing short of a miracle.

This idyllic state of affairs will end next week when my 7YO starts second grade, my 4YO begins kindergarten and my work commitments ramp up again. But that’s OK because we’ve had a great Summer break.

One thing I love about Summer is all the fresh seafood that’s on this menu. This Crab, Avocado and Sweet Chilli Sauce Bites dish came about when my dad’s friend, Uncle T, turned up with some freshly caught Blue Swimmer crabs.

Now I love crab cooked Singapore chilli style, or sprinkled through pasta with lots of fresh parsley, chilli and lemon juice but both dishes felt too heavy for this weather.

So I decided to rework my dad’s great fresh picked crab dip. It’s an incredible dip but it can be a little tricky to get all the dip onto the cracker elegantly. So I decided to plate up individual bites – you can either offer them to your guests on one large serving platter or plate up a few on smaller side plates as I have here.

Served with bubbles, beer or cider, these crab bites would be great as nibbles for an Australia Day gathering or as a luxurious appetizer for a dinner party. I’d count on three biscuits per guest for a party and six per guest for an appetizer. Alternatively, and thinking ahead,  you could serve this as part of a romantic Valentine Day’s meal for two. Because if someone goes to the trouble of making this for you he or she is definitely a keeper. 

Enjoy!

Crab, Avocado and Sweet Chilli Sauce Bites

INGREDIENTS

• 3 crabs, steamed (I used Blue Swimmer crabs)
• 1 large avocado
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 packet water crackers (a thin, light cracker suits this dish)
• 1 tub cream cheese
• Sweet chilli sauce
• Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

METHOD

1. Remove crab meat from shells (see my previous posts on catching and cooking crabs).
2. Peel avocado, remove stone and cut into two. Cut each half into two lengthways and then slice across the avocado to create small triangles.
3. Brush avocado pieces gently with lemon juice (a silicon brush is perfect for this). This adds flavour and also helps prevent the avocado from discolouring.
4. Place water crackers on a plate or plates.
5. Spread with cream cheese and top with avocado and crab meat. Spoon over sweet chilli sauce.

NOTES

1. Best served immediately otherwise the crackers will get soft.
2. Makes around 30 crackers.
3. Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.
4. If you don’t like crab you could substitute freshly cooked prawns. I’d buy King Prawns and allow one per cracker.

More appetizer recipes

• Eye of the Tiger
• My Mother’s Pate
• Prawn Lettuce Cups with Thai Dressing
• Tomato Bocconcini Salad
• Chilled Cucumber Soup
• Fried Wontons
• Bruschetta with Quail Egg, Mini Asparagus and Truffle Paste
• Mini Vietnamese Pork Buns

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Fresh picked crab is an absolute luxury. Picking the crab meat out of its shell is both time consuming and finicky work so it’s a real labour of love.

I am extremely fortunate because it’s a labour of love my dad willingly performs for me every time he catches and cooks crabs.

I know, I know – he’s a really good man.

One of the best ways to use fresh picked crab is in a crab dip. I’m not talking about one of those ghastly fluoro coloured monstrosities you find lurking in your supermarket chiller cabinet. I’m talking about real ingredients. Simple flavours. Pure indulgence.

Our great family friend, Auntie Ruta, made something similar to this one year for Christmas Day lunch and my Dad happily filched the recipe from her. My version below is different again – I’m not keen on seafood sauce, which is used in both their recipes, so I’ve kept this very simple, very basic.

Big thanks to my dad who picked the crab meat for me (again). I roped him in to help as I believe in going straight to the expert and he is certainly an expert crab catcher, picker and eater. (You can read about how he caught the crabs off Semaphore jetty here.)

Eating this makes me feel supremely happy.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 fresh crabs
Juice of half a lemon
2 avocados
1 block cream cheese, softened, or 1 tub spreadable cream cheese (200gms)
Freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Put your fresh crabs in a pot. If they are not dead you should kill them humanely. This suggested method is from the RSPCA website:

“Crabs have two main nerve centres. One is located at the front of the animal under a shallow depression and the second lies towards the rear of the animal and may have a small hole positioned over it. The recommended method is to lift the abdominal flap (tail flap) and insert a knife all the way through the hind nerve centre, followed by a repeat of the process on the front nerve centre via the shallow depression at the front of the body.”

Alternatively, you could put them in the fridge for half an hour and then the freezer for one hour so they go to ‘sleep.’ Crustaceans are cold blooded so when their temperature is reduced they become insensible.

Place crabs in a large cooking pot with no water. Put the lid on and bring to the boil. Cook for around 15-20 minutes on a medium heat until they have fully changed colour to a bright red.

Rinse the crabs immediately with cold water. This stops the cooking process.

Now if you haven’t already done so – change into old clothes. Picking crabs is messy work!

To pick the crab meat out, peel back the inner triangular flap using your finger. Pull back over the crab’s back and remove the whole top shell.

Tear body in half and remove gills and internal organs. Some people like eating the mustardy liver; some people don’t.

This crab is a female – you can see the yellow eggs. Some people love eating this.

Use your fingers and the crab craws to painstakingly remove every bit of crab meat from the shell.

You’ll end up with a small bowl of crab meat, which seems completely out of proportion to the effort that you’ve just expended. But keep going, it’ll be worth it, I promise.

Now grab your other ingredients. Squeeze the lemon and mash the avocados.

Find your best small crystal bowl to serve the dip and make equal layers of cream cheese and avocado, finishing with crab. Top with lemon juice and dribble over sweet chilli sauce. Finish with a grind of black pepper.

I have to confess I am deeply disappointed with how the dip actually turned out. Not the taste – the taste was magnificent – but the photos just don’t do the dip justice.

I couldn’t find the small round bowl that my dad used last time so had to make do with an oddly shaped vessel that was really impractical for a layered dip. Usually, we try to make the layers more or less equal but it was difficult with this shape and the cream cheese layer is disproportionately large. The vessel was also too small: I could only fit one avocado in instead of two. Moreover, the sundae glass shape of the vessel made the crab dip look like a funky seafood dessert.

I was also racing against the clock when I took these photos as the daylight was fading fast. Hence, the rather dull pics. I could pretend that I wanted them to look moody and atmospheric but then I’d be lying.

So I was feeling a little disappointed when I finally made it to my parent’s house with the dip in time for dinner. All that effort – and for something that looked like a seafood sundae!

But then I tasted the dip.

And I heaved a great sigh of perfect bliss.

I’d do it all over again, precisely the same way, if I could eat that exact same dip each time.