fiddlehead ferns, aka wtf do i do with this? learn a technique, cook a million things

waaayyyyy back when, when i was in sunday school, one of the first parables i learned was about jesus teaching someone to fish or something like that.... wait i got that so wrong. ok. i can give you a fish or i can teach you to fish. thats it..

one second on religion. i dont care if you are religious or not. here are the most important things you should get out of any religion. first, know that religion killed faith. humanity and its shortcomings and faults made faith into something its not. whoever the higher being may be, they are up there facepalming going, i cant believe you morons. i left it so simple but you ruined everything. second, its a guidebook to make your life better. its not a guidebook to tell someone else how to live.

anyways, sorry about that. it had to come out. probably because im bitter because im still on this god forsaken earth after the rapture. damn its may 21st 2011 and im still here with you assholes. greeeeeaaaat....

well similarly to the fish and fishing analogy, you can read a recipe and follow it step by step and learn to make a dish. thats great. nothing wrong with that. but i have an alternative, something i always talk about. learn techniques and you will exponentially grow your cooking vocabulary.

here we go.

so i was at berkeley bowl the other week and i noticed something interesting in the produce section. fiddlehead ferns? now i had a few years of my life where i was knee deep into horticulture. my handy dandy pacifc guide to trees and shrubs was always in my backpack and i would randomly identify things by their leaf patterns, fruits and flowers. when i saw fiddlehead ferns in the produce section i was, ummm stumped. you eat fiddlehead ferns? interesting.

of course, my foodcentric friends.. .no more than a couple days later, a buddy had a picture of a dish she made with fiddlehead ferns!

i picked some up the other night. had to try it myself.

now do i know anything about cooking fiddlehead ferns? not really. how do i approach this?

so heres something i learned awhile ago. you grab some basic ingredients, heat up some oil, add some aromatics, toss in some oyster sauce, add your veggies and its tada! its delicious. almost any green veggie will work. this is simple technique to make literally hundreds of dishes. you just need to adjust it slightly for the veggie youre using.

ok so i grabbed some basic ingredients i had in the frig. some firm tofu from hodo beanery, garlic, onion and green onion.

this fiddlehead fern is NOT a leafy green. it wont cook very fast in a pan while your stir frying everything. so what did i do? well first i trimmed of the thicker end of the fiddlehead ferns. then i blanched it in boiling hot salted water.

then i put it under cold water to stop the cooking process while i worked on the rest of the dish.

i added some olive oil to a hot pan and seasoned some tofu chunks with salt and pepper and started the cooking process for these.

why am i cooking this tofu first? well hodo beanery firm tofu is FIRM. this wont crumble up while cooking like other tofu you may have worked with. this is really tofu steak.... i really love hodo beanery products GOOD stuff. and i also like a nice sear on the firm tofu. it builds flavor and adds a nice texture.

i take this slightly seared tofu out and put it on a plate while i address the rest of the dish.

i threw in the aromatics, the onion and garlic. a little sesame oil here, some salt there , some black pepper..... ooh i had some shichimi on the counter so i tossed some in. why not? i let this sweat for a bit *basically cook a bit under med heat*

and the binder that make this technique work for all things green leafy veggie? oyster sauce. i toss in about a table spoon.

oh wait, did i have some left over ground turkey? might as well toss that in to. its not like this is a recipe or anything.

i heat everything threw and i put in on a plate while i worked with the fiddle heads again. at this point, the fiddlehead ferns are trimmed, blanched in hot salted water and chilled to stop the cooking process under cold water. now its time to get them cooking again. i heat up the pan again, add in some sesame oil, toss the fiddlehead ferns in and season with salt and pepper.

now i finally add back all the other ingredients, including some green oinons i was saving for last and heat and toss around for one final time.... and this dish asked me to splash in some ponzu. i obeyed.

then tada!

this is the first time i ever cooked fiddlehead ferns. i used a simple asiany technique to try out this interesting veggie. what do i think of fiddlehead ferns? they are very interesting indeed. texture like okra, flavor similar to aspargus.

what should you take out of this? well, never be afraid. you build up your cooking vocabulary. when you see something you dont know too well, adapt it to something youve done already. this technique will work great with snow pea leave, pea srouts, green beans........ its a helpful tool to learn something new, try something new and keep building up that cooking vocab of yours!

muse me, hodo yuba

ive been asked many times, how did you learn how to make that? where did you get that recipe from........

most of the times, i dont do recipes. i mean, i borrow from this recipe and that recipe all the time and i love to learn new things while replicating a dish i learned from a cookbook..... but ill be honest, my favorite part of cooking is taking the skills, techniques and ideas ive learned and evolving and applying them to a dish im making on the fly.

i like to open the frig and see whats in there and make something from it, based on ideas and techniques ive used for hundreds of other dishes.

because of my heritage and because the biggest cooking influence ive had is my mother, of course it shows in my cooking. its gonna be "asiany". theres no doubt about that. this entry is gonna be a bit asiany.

another favorite part of cooking is when i go grocery shopping and i find an item so interesting i have to buy it. most of the time, i will have no idea what to do with it. sometimes, i catch myself just staring at it on the counter in my kitchen....

"now why the hell did i buy this? what am i gonna do with this? well at least my dog will eat it if its bad... ooo i should walk her. shes getting kinda fat. maybe i should feed her a low fat diet. i wonder if she thinks in korean...."

anyways. so i buy some random item that catches my eye and i make do. i let that initial interest evolve into an idea. i take all the different techniques ive learned, go thtough the steps in my mind and shape that item into a final product. i might not know how it will turn out, and i will admit, sometimes its REALLY REALLY BAD..... but i will say, over the years, the number of really bad dishes have slowly decreased! yay!

"ok, so i know if i build a simple foundation of flavor around this ingredient, i can highlight the texture of it with this cooking technique"

"ok, so this kinda looks and smells and taste like chinese chives, maybe i can substitute it in my chive pancake batter"

different thought processes take place. different scenarios play through my mind.... but this is all part of the fun.

***************
the other day, while at berkeley bowl, i saw they had yuba. not just any yuba either hodo beanery yuba.
yuba is basically a byproduct when you make tofu. its the skin that forms along the top of the tofu. i think its all sorts of delicious, and when a place like hodo, who are crafters of some of the best tofu out there, makes this.... its simply divine.

i brought it home and realized, i never cooked yuba. what the hell am i supposed to do with it?

thought process....

yuba is tofu skin, folded up. it kinda reminds me of tomago.

hey it also reminds me of kalguk soo before you cut it.

hey maybe i should use it like a noodle!

slice in half, the 1/4" sections

hmmm. well this is the first time im cooking with it, so i should bring out the flavor of it. simple dish.

its asiany, so lets do asiany simple. some sesame oil, some green onions, hey, theres some left over garlic greens, some black sesame seeds...

ok, maybe thats a bit too simple. lets add a bit of oyster sauce. that always goes good in everything! hmm some garlic, salt and pepper... ok this should do.

now i can just put this sliced yuba right in, but hrm..... ima blanch it real quick, it will help break apart all the individual pieces anyways.

ok, strain, then add to the hot pan... ooo a splash of good ponzu should top it off right.

TADA a new dish, inspired by a new ingredient i found, built on a foundation of previous experiences with food.. ever evolving..... i think next time around, i will do a few things different if i was to make this dish, like topping it off with fresh green onions instead of letting it cook. or better yet make a whole new dish! maybe a nice brothy one....

shabu shabu, the sound of swishing water....

shabu shabu, hot pot... whatever you call, its delicious.... and healthy.

legend has it, genghis khan informed his troops he wanted a quick and nutritious meal to be eaten on the run. they came up with hot pot. if you can trace the origins of the kebob to turkish solider skewering meats and vegetables with their swords on a open fire, i can totally see some mongols sitting around a pot of water, dipping, cooking their meals.... downtime while they rape and pilage (or bring an early form of democracy and government, depending on which view better suits you).

so hot pot. it got all popular recently. i swear you cant walk a few block in the san francisco bay area without waiting in line for one. whether it be the oh so popular little sheep mongolian hot pot chain, the og all you can eat and drink mums in japantown, or one of ten i can name off the top of my head shabu shabu/hotpot places in sf, lets just say people like hot pot.

and why not? fresh veggies and thinly sliced meats cooked table top. its fun, its healthy. why the hell not?

this post is not going to be about where i like to eat hot pot. however, i do have to say, up until a few years ago, i refused to eat hot pot at restaurants. most places were either over priced and/or just crappy..... then came shabu house in the richmond district of sf...

lets just be honest. shabu house got INSANELY popular because of their spicy miso broth. such a simple adjustment to the formula and BAM. instant hit.

THIS POST IS ABOUT DOING HOT POT AT HOME.

once upon a time, during the height of mama lees cooking reign, when she was feeling a bit lazy, it was hot pot night. grab random veggies out of the frig, thinly slice some meats, make up a dipping sauce and there you go. a great meal.

over the years, i started taking a huge liking to hot pot. it made me feel healthy. hell, you eat like two days serving worth of vegetables in one meal. its also fun. you get to make the people you are sharing a meal with interact with their food. they get to pick their sauces, they get to cook it.... they feel part of the process.

its always a great meal when you hot pot at home.

LETS GET RIGHT TO IT

of course there is going to be a start up cost. you need to buy some equipment. bare basic, you need a pot (cough cough) and something to make it hot. i would suggest the ubquitous asian table top burner.....

IMPORTANT NOTE HERE THIS IS NO BULLSHIT, REAL SHIT.

buy something good. dont buy cheap shit. an extra five ten fifteen bucks is NOTHING when it comes to safety. a friend of ours got hurt during a fund raiser we were having. im not saying she was using bad equipment. it was fine, but see, even then with good equipment, things can go wrong. using better equipment will help reduce the risks.

personally, when it come to table top burners, i think iwatani burners are the freaking bizness. these are top of the line units.

so purdy

i have a few different burners at home, but the one i like to use currently is this one. it has a ceramic burner that prevents the flame from going out until you completely cut the gas. this will help prevent one major type of accident these table top burners are known for, when the flame goes out, gas builds up and a small little spark...... yeah not good.

avoid something that feels flimsy.

get used to your equipment, how it works, how to turn it off.

a good table top burner should run you anywhere from $20- 40.

BUY GOOD FUEL CELLS. dont try to save a buck by buying a shitton off ebay for $3... buy from a reputable source. safety first.

as for the pot, well anything that can hold water will work, but the qualities you are looking for is something that is wider than tall, something that holds heat well and thats about it.

it may cost you a little money up front, but i can assure you, if you like hot pot, if you like to entertain, if you just like good food, you will get your moneys worth.

HOT POT IN THE CITY!!!!

ok so what will you need ingredients wise? this isnt a recipe. its a guideline. do whatever the hell you like. im just trying to show you guys its real easy. im just going to use one random nights hot pot dinner to show you guys some stuff.

so i stopped buy the local asian market, nijiya, to pick up some stuff. some veggies, some meats and i picked out a mid price point ponzu sauce to highlight an important point. more on this later.

Proteins

some people actually own meat slicers. i know of two people. im actually surprised i dont own one. for as many hot pot meals i have at home, you would think i would have one.

BUT... you dont need one. your local asian markets have conviently thinly sliced meats just for this.

these are even marked.... shabu shabu

berkshire pork loin and nicely marbled ribeye (actually sukiyaki cut, a bit thicker cut cause the meat looked so good!)

if you cant find precut and if your local butcher wont slice it for you, well, no worries. slightly freeze your meats of choice and do your best to slice it thin.

besides beef and pork, you can use most anything, scallops, shrimps, lobster, clam........ive used them all and they are just fine.

VEGGIES

i usually buy a head of napa cabbage, a bunch of spinach, some mushrooms, some green onions.... oh wait, look at this. theres a variety pack for nabe (japanese soup) that has chopped napa cabbage, some mushrooms, leeks, carrots... how nice of them to to this for me!

all boxed up and easy

the nabe set plated

i also bought a few extra veggies

trumpet mushrooms, spinach

i decided to buy some fun stuff too. berkshire spicy pork sausage, some somen noodles, some udon noodles, fried tofu ...... let your imagination go and try it. you will never know if you like it or not if you dont try it.

these three things. OMG so good. 

its not just for breakfast anymore

PREPARING THE HOT POT

i take the pot, add some water........ now some people will say, some water is all you need. these people probably dont read food blogs so i wont worry about offending them....

to use just plain water after you bought a nice hot pot set and bought some great ingredients to cook in it would be a crime.

some people add chicken stock. some people add spices and seasonings. one of the most interesting ones ive heard is tom yum flavored hot pot broth!

today, ill be making a super simple spicy miso.

whenever i can, i use kombu. its dried kelp. i rinse. i add it to simmering water and let it seep. it adds a great foundation to build all your flavors on.

even if you are making instant ramen, simmer some kombu in the water first. you wont understand why, but that shit just makes everything taste better.

today, i simmered some kombu and some dried shitake.

a scale shot. this is how much i used. RINSE RINSE this dried kelp

to this i added  huge heaping spoon of miso.....

taste as you go along. find the balance you like. in this example, to about a gallon of water i added about two heaping table spoons of miso.

i added a few small slices of ginger and a small spoon of kot chu jjang (korean spicy red pepper paste).... homemade actually (homemade as in moi, more on this in a later post). you dont need this. you can add sriacha, dried peppers, spicy red pepper oil.... whatever you like.

bring this to a simmer.

ABOUT SAUCES

ive seen all sorts of sauces. i use all sorts of sauces. my goto however is ponzu...

what is ponzu? it depends on who you ask. some people will say flavored soy sauce. some will say citrus soy sauce....

ME?!??! i say they are all wrong. YUZU my friends. YU FUCKING ZU. its really does make a difference. the house ponzu sauce you get at most restaurants is little more than soy sauce with a few seasoning and "citrus" flavoring which can be anything from citrus oil (extract from lemon, lime orange peels) or citrus juice..... GET SOMETHING WITH YUZU IN IT. you will thank me for it. if you spent the time to read this, convince yourself that bibimblog is the most awesomest blog ever and you must do what i say, go buy yourself a hot pot set and since your at the local asian market picking up supplies... just spend the extra few bucks on good ponzu dipping sauce with REAL YUZU in it....

(im currently sourcing a yuzu tree to grow on my patio!!)

yes, yuzu is the bizness

kikoman ponzu sauce is good. no yuzu. it costs like $2 for 400ml bottle. its probably the exact same thing you tried before at restaurants.

one day, with a bit of extra money burning a hole in my pocket i bought this.

$$$$

ive also tried stuff that costs $30 for a 400ml bottle.... well these should only be used when your actually drinking the stuff... again, another post later...so many topics, such a little blog!

today, i bought this. a mid-range priced ponzu sauce with yuzu juice. i gave a bit to my lovely better half to taste... shes huge hot pot fan, the reason for the post infact...(my muse if you will) and she was blown away how a few more bucks can mean so much in flavor. its like day and night. she was amazed just how much better the meal was with a dipping sauce that was only 4 more dollars.  (and that $4 stretches out for at least 8 servings)

you can also buy sesame seed dipping sauce, you can chop up green onions, garlic, ginger and add it.... whatever you like!!!

today i added shichimi to the ponzu. its a seven seasoning spice (shichi means 7 in japanese) thats a bit spicy a bit savory. a whole lot tasty.

mama lee used to make this soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper flakes and fish sauce dipping sauce i used to LOVE..... fond memories

DINNER SERVICE

now bring everything table top. put it next you your assorted plates of stuff. tada, dinner is served.....

you dip i dip we dip. cook for as long as you like or as little as you like. dont leave the proteins in for too long. adjust the temp according to your cooking and eating style.

NOW WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HOT POT THE MOST?

again, bibimblog is telling you what most people would think of as scraps, waste, byproducts, is gold!!!

wait, before that... heres how freaking hippie santa cruz ive become. i take the scrap i cut off the veggies, stems, roots, skins, and put them in my worm bin. worms eat it. turn it into compost. i grow veggies with that compost. circle of life.

ok back to what i think is gold. you made a great miso broth to cook in. you cooked veggies and proteins in it..... you made a great soup!!!! i like to strain this.. depending on how log you cooked for, you might need to add a bit of water to thin it out, but you got soup! hell you can add some dried seaweed and tofu and make miso soup. you can add noodles and make ramen. YUM!!!!

enjoy

any questions, comments, smart ass remarks? post below

garlic noodles... aka what do i do with all this crab butter!!!

so after making garlic crabs, the confit method, you will have a shit ton of this garlicky, crab buttery, ummmm, butter mixture leftover. i put this away in a glass tupperware in the frig to use for the next batch of garlic crabs BUT I ALSO USE THIS TO COOK!

when you think garlic crabs, you naturally think garlic noodles. thahn long, crustaeans and ppq dungeness island has made us think this way.

ive tried all sorts of recipes and techniques..... parmesan cheese, fish sauce.... tried them all. this recipe/technique works amazingly.

trust

take a spoonful or so of the crab butter mixture... NOTE when you put the crab butter mixture away in the frig, the fats will solidify and "float" and the garlic will drop to the bottom.

get both the garlic and the fats.

add in oyster sauce.

add in white pepper and black pepper

heat

noodles... a note about noodles. ive literally tried about a hundred or so different style, types, brands of noodles and ive settled with..... fresh pancit.

the chinese market near my place has these and i think they work just fine. ive also used all sorts of pancit noodles and they have been fine. yeah... so basically, any pancit noodles.

cook these noodles in salted boiling water for a few, then add the noodles to the heated crab butter oyster sauce pan.


heat.


THATS IT. im telling you. this is usually the big winner of the night. ive had discussions at lengths about garlic noodles and this technique vs others and 90% of everyone has said this by far is the best garlic noodles theyve had. and its this easy?!?!?!

of course id add some chopped green onions or chives.... hell add in some of the garlic roasted crab meat....

trust. this will disappear in a blink of an eye. 

____________________

now this crab butter and oyster sauce recipe can be adapted to veggies! i love using this recipe for snow pea leaves, pea sprouts.....

heres the changes...

rinse the veggies.

add the veggies. it will water down the sauce with its natural juice. no worries. cook the greens until it reaches he doneness you like. i like them slightly wilted yet with a nice bite.... remove from the pan but keep the sauce in the. let the sauce heat in the pan by itself and reduce the sauce. stir it occasionally to prevent it from burning. top the veggies with it.

this will disappear just as fast as your garlic noodles.

GARLIC ROASTED CRAB (confit/butter poached method)..... and crab butter

hi guys. here it is....garlic roasted crab

after ten years or so of tinkering around with this dish, here is what i consider to be my best method of making "garlic roasted crab".

first, let me say something very important.

you get what you put into it.

i know not everyone has the means to get dungeness crab right from the water and i know not everyone has an awesome seafood wholesaler near by.... but do whatever you can to get the best ingredients, especially with seafood.

that being said, i live in san francisco. some of my buddies actually walk into the surf during dungeness season and pull them right out of the water. no bullshit.

we are extremely lucky to live in the bay area because among other things, we have amazing access to great ingredients. personally, i like to get all my dungeness crab from New England Lobster (NEL) in South San Francisco. a friend turned me onto this place and ive been a huge fan since. they are a wholesaler that sells to the public. when you see top restaurants on their client list, you know its got to be good. turnover is key to freshness. thats one reason why i prefer NEL. not saying our other reasources are bad... like Seafood Center on clement, Sun Fat on mission,  or the ubiquitous 99 ranch.... they all come to mind when i think fresh live crab, but i personally think NEL has them all beat because of turnover.... (note, NEL usually closes around 2pm, as i said, they are a wholesaler and they have wholesale hours UPDATED NOTE. NEL IS NO LONGER JUST A WHOLESALER, BUT NO A MARKET AND RESTAURANT IN A NEW MUCH LARGER LOCATION)

long winded way of saying get the freshest crab you can.

right to it, this isn't a recipe, this is more a post about a technique. i think anyone can follow a recipe and reproduce something and thats how most of us start out in the kitchen, but i think that learning a technique is just as if not more important. you can apply techniques youve learned to current recipes to exponentially expand your cooking repertoire. so i wont list exact amounts, temperatures or anything like that, you can figure out for yourself or adjust things to your liking.... for example, if you don't want to use the crazy shit ton amount of butter i use, you can use olive oil. if youre cooking more crab, you can leave the crab submerged in your garlic bath at a lower temperature for a longer time...

that being said, here's some stuff you will need.

butter, LOTS AND LOTS OF BUTTER. the reason why i call this the confit method is that you will submerge all the crab parts into a bath of garlic, seasoning and butter. (yeah its more of poaching method, but saying confit makes me sound all smarted)

garlic

salt and pepper

olive oil

as far as cookware, you will need a pot large enough to steam your crab flat, head down. you dont want to boil the crabs so a veggie steamer helps. heres what im using today.

its simply a large pot with a veggie steamer. (make sure your steamer stands are down so its above the water level. add enough water to steam for at least 15 mins. theres about an inch and a half of water under this steamer.

add salt.

i actually have an aluminum 20 quart tamale steamer i use to steam up to 7 crabs. i also have various size stock pots for lesser quantities. its important to use the right size cookware. confucius says, you don't use a hatchet to kill a fly on a friends face.

steaming flat is VERY IMPORTANT. why? one of the ingredients will be "made" during this steaming process. you will see what im talking about in a bit.

a small food processor will be handy to puree the garlic, but if you don't have one, just mince up (mash up) your garlic by hand. honestly though, a food processor is kinda key for this cooking method. its really hard to mince up this crazy amount of garlic you will need. i take a handful of garlic (peeled, stem section trimmed) at a time and add some salt and pepper, some olive oil to lubricate, and puree the hell out of this. basically a salty garlic paste.

i add this to whatever pan im using that day. i used to use a small casserole dish to cook this dish. its enough to make one crab or so which was plenty for myself. i really didnt cook for guests back then, just for myself.

these days, im using a half or full hotel pan, the later being large enough to cook 10 crab! the vessel you want to use must be at least about an inch higher than the height of the crabs laid out flat in the butter bath. if it was me, i would use a pan deep and big enough so that the the crabs in the bath only take up half the space. when you move this pan around in the cooking process, the last thing you need is hot butter all over you.

heres where you should adjust things. last time i made a big batch of garlic roasted crab, i melted about 4 lbs of butter.... SCARY, I KNOW..... if you want to use more olive oil, no biggie...... but remember, all this butter ISNT going directly into your hearts, you are using this bath to cook, not to eat.

(NOTE, THE LEFTOVER CRAB BUTTER GARLIC BATH IS HELLLLLLA GOOD TO USE AS AN INGREDIENT IN OTHER DISHES. IT IS A STAPLE I ALWAYS HAVE IN MY FRIG... MORE ON THIS LATER)

back on track. melt enough butter to cover all the crab parts. this will all depend on the size of your crab, how many crab and the vessel size. tinker around. its half the fun.

add in the garlic paste. how much? well i tend to go with something like 1/4 to 3/4 paste to butter volume wise. dont worry too much about this. you will see as you "recycle and reuse" this bath gets more potent and the volumes and ratios really dont mean much.


heat this in mixture in an 350 oven.

meanwhile, the crab itself....

when your crab is fresh, its kicking, it will pinch you. you will get hurt. you will quickly realize that crab should be handled a very specific way. try to handle it from the back of it because they will have a hard time reaching you. put the crab in the freezer for about five minutes because this will put it to "sleep". you are going to want to rinse and scrub this badboy a bit so a sleeping crab is helpful. under running water, scrub scrub scrub, pay attention to the under carriage and the feathery part on either side of the underside of the head.

your sleeping beauty will quickly come back to life. HURRY. toss in this badboy head down flat in your piping hot steamer. steam for ten minutes. (adjust for number of crabs of course) you DONT want to cook it, just parsteam it. enough to kill the crab and start the cooking process. 

during this time, check up on your garlic butter bath. it should have melted and warmed up a bit. season a bit. i like to taste this... yes, i just said i taste melted butter with garlic.... im gross i know. it should look something like this.

and a spoonful of the garlic on the bottom

(NOTE... this is ALOT of this garlic butter bath. im using an old batch of leftover garlic butter bath i had stored in a glass tupperware container. this is enough to make about 3-4 crabs in. )

leave oven at 350

about this time, your crab should be done steaming. pull it out carefully, and place HEAD DOWN somewhere you can work with it. id wait a minute to two so it cools a bit, but remember, it will still be burning hot. if some legs fell off, dont worry, just toss them into the bath. remove the flap on the underbelly.

you are now going to try to separate the head shell and the body and legs without spilling the contents of the shell. a bit tricky, but nothing too hard.

i use a pair of heat proof gloves to manhandle the crab at this point as its going to be BURNING!!!

i just put a bit of pressure on the head shell and with the other hand, a bit of pressure on the back of the crab.  DONT SPILL!!!!  

taste the brownish, yellowish liquid.... (if its blackish, its probably not good. you probably got an old crab.)

this is what people call crab butter. it should have a nice briny, slightly salty taste to it. this is one of the main reasons why you need fresh crabs. them guts and and brains and organs go bad hella quick. if the crab is not fresh, this crab butter will be disgusting. if its fresh, this will be liquid gold. 

this is gold. i just pour this liquid right into the bath through a strainer

now theres more of this gold but its going to get a bit squishy now. there should be some guts and fats stuck to the shell. put that in a strainer. the body of the crab (its actually called the knuckle and legs and claws) will be "sealed" in with a membrane in the center part of the knuckle. break through this meaty membrane and scoop out the crab butter into the same strainer.

get it all!! this is the magical crab butter that makes everything damn good. 

now a side note. if you feel all grossed out because its guts and stuff, please grow up. this is really the magical stuff. innards of all sorts of creatures make the damn best sauces. its not gross. its what makes dishes shine.

strain the crab butter through your strainer as best as possible. i like to take a spoon and scrape and push it through. you will only be left with a fraction of what you started with. most of the volume of the crab butter is liquid and as such you want to get as much as possible through. 

back to prepping the crab. remove the lungs on the side of the knuckles and other bits that don't look like it belongs on a finished product. some more membranes, loose pieces that make up its antennas and mouth...

break the crab in half, its easy (or chop it). then chop in half again.

now take these quarters and put them into the garlic paste, melted butter, crab butter mixture. try to cover all the pieces but if you cant and some of the crab parts are sticking out, well adjust.... baste it, rotate the pieces, whatever.

put the whole shebang into the 350 oven. loosely cover with some foil. i usually do about 20 minute or so, adjusting for size and number of crabs of course. 

for this one crab in a half hotel pan, it was in a 350 oven for 15 minutes

take the pieces out and place them on an oven safe pan. 

now the leftover bath... let this cool somewhat and we will get back to this later.

this is basically done... but why not blast these tasty morsels under a broiler to caramelize some of the garlic and thicken the bath water on the crab adding another layer of flavor.

a quick a minute under the broiler is perfect... then TADA

garlic roasted crab, confit method a la euge. of course i would usually add at least some chopped chives/ green onions..... but yes. dig in. scoop out some of the bath solution for dipping if you like.... some lemons... beers..... chard...... grey goose chilled?

*note im going to start adding some pictures of garlic crab dinners with friends, because, good food should always be shared with good people... and my pictures usually suck*

picture courtesy of tiffany m.t.

......

now the left over bath..... this is awesome. of course you could just get rid of this, but youd be a fool!!!! these days, it seems i make this dish to have this byproduct more than the dish itself!!!

i put the cooled bath solution into a glass tupperware and leave it in the frig. its good for a few months at least.

when i want to make the BEST garlic noodle (yes i said best.... i HATE to use the word best when talking about food because its so subjective but after serving my garlic noodles to a good number of people and them saying its freaking god damn off the hinges, i am starting to believe the garlic noodles arent too shabby), some fried rice, awesome sauteed chinese veggies..... i scoop out a spoonful and TADA!!! more on this next time when ill make a couple of these.

you also probably want to save this butter bath for the next time you make these garlic crab. i usually have one batch i keep for the entire local dungeness crab season, constantly cooking the crab in the bath adding more and more flavor.... im getting hungry now.