Chilli lemongrass mudcrabs

Author: JayPenfold

Category: Fish recipes

Created on Wednesday, 21 April 2010 21:30

Written by Jay 'Yakfisher' Penfold

This recipe for Chilli lemongrass mudcrabs is one of my favourites. In part it came from my days working at the ledgendary seafood restaurant Claypots in Melbourne's St kilda. This version came about on my first trip to the Northern Rivers when my wife decided that as we were pregnant, I should at least meet her parents. An eventful trip it was. One of the highlights was this meal. Brother-in-law to be

'Monty” took me to drop some dillies baited with stinky old mullet frames off Orana Bridge before the North arm of the Brunswick River became a Marine Park and therefore a no take zone. We managed a few nice fat muddies and a few fat sandfly bites. (I'd never encountered them before, much to the bemusement of my wife. I thought they were called sandflies because they lived near sand, not because they were the size of a grain of sand. My tender Southern skin itched for two weeks.)

Whilst being shown the sights of the Byron hinterland and being introduced to the extended family I gathered a variety of ingredients from relative's gardens. Most of the ingredients in the dish came to me hunted or gathered.

Chilli lemongrass mudcrabs

1 x mudcrab per person, about a kg each
4 x stalks of lemongrass, bashed and cut into matchsticks
1 x large knob of ginger cut into matchsticks
2 x kaffir lime leaves julienne hair fine six cloves garlic cut into matchsticks

1 x bunch coriander's roots, washed

1 x bunch coriander leaves and stems chopped, reserved for last

2 x teaspoons sambal oleck (i made this evil stuff myself)
juice of a lime
1 x tbsp palm sugar
Method

Heat a large wok, add some vegetable oil and throw in all the ingredients except the crabs, lime juice, palm sugar and coriander leaf. Heat until fragrant. Then add the crabs and remaining ingredients, except the coriander leaf. Turn the crabs every now and then. Turn off the heat when they turn orange and add the coriander leaf.

I just served them in the wok at the table with brown rice on the side (the rice absolutely unnecessary I might add) and an elbow deep finger bowl. Oh and lashings of beer and Kiwi Sav Blanc. Divine. After hours of cracking, gnawing and sucking, there were two pieces of crab left.That no one could quite manage.

Serves

Seven kg of muddie is definitely enough for four adults as a main

The next day, I went to see DI at work, with my bum on fire and a pain in the back of my head.
"Please tell me they were awful Jay, please"
I couldn't lie to him. All I could do was grin like a Cheshire cat.