On the day before Christmas Eve, Mr. A bought two Dungeness
crabs and two Maine lobsters on impulse.
Only when he placed the sea creatures in his kitchen sink did he realize
that he and Mrs. A would be eating shellfish for days.
Mr. A immediately went to work. He killed the live crabs by pulling off their
top shells. He proceeded to clean the
bodies and steamed them whole. Next, he poached
one lobster in a large pot of boiling water with heat off. He severed the tail from the head of the
second lobster and placed it in a bowl of icy cold water to firm up the meat
for sashimi. He saved the crab miso and
the green lobster tomalley for later use.
* * * * *
Mr. A wasted no time to made lobster sashimi. The chilled
meat was firm, crunchy and sweet. The
flavor became more complex when the pieces were seasoned with a little bit of
wasabi and dipped gently in tamari. The sashimi was followed by roasted quails with
sautéed rapini. The quails were
marinated briefly with a dark soy sauce and Kosher salt before being pan
roasted in olive oil. The rapini was sautéed
with bacon, pancetta and red chili pepper.
The wine for dinner was a grower-Champagne from Avize.
* * * * *
Mr. and Mrs. A feasted on more crab and lobster dishes the rest
of the 2012 Christmas week -- egg
custard in crab shells, lobster instant noodle, crab and lobster risotto,
lobster chowder (twice), Chinese scrambled egg with crab, and finally udon with
crab and mushrooms.
* * * * *
Egg custard in crab
shells: Mrs. A placed some crab meat
in the two empty crab shells. She filled
up the shells with beaten egg mixed with crab jus, crab miso and chopped cilantro, and steamed them for a few
minutes. The result was different from chawanmushi (the Japanese dish of egg custard with
chicken, shrimp, and ginkgo nut steamed in a small lidded ceramic bowl) -- the color
was not a pure soft yellow because of the crab miso, and the surface was not
mirror smooth because the shells were too shallow for the egg to cover the
solid ingredients. Nevertheless, the
dish was a success. The aroma was
intense; the flavor savory and totally umami. Despite the small portion, its richness made
the dish a meal by itself.
Lobster and sardine
instant noodle: Mr. A fried some shallots in olive oil from a can of “Parthos”
brand sardines. When the shallots were soft
and slightly browned, he added pieces of lobster head and legs, cilantro and negi.
He warmed the small whole sardines in the pan to finish off the
cooking. The sauté was then placed over bowls
of spicy hot “Boku-Uma” brand ramen noodle.
It tasted good. (“Parthos” from Portugal is the only brand of
canned sardines that Mr. and Mrs. A like.
It was packed in olive oil with red chili pepper, clove, a slice of
cucumber, a slice of carrot and salt.
The texture and flavor of the fish are impeccable.)
Crab and lobster risotto: The idea was inspired by a dish Mr. and Mrs.
A eaten not too long ago at Namu Gaji, a New Wave Korean restaurant. The restaurant version was crab risotto with white
truffle from Alba shaved tableside. Mr.
A’s version had no white truffle (sigh!).
He stirred Carnaroli rice in olive oil with chopped onion and garlic,
and cooked it with lobster stock and clam jus, adding linguica, lobster tomalley,
lobster tail and crab meat, and cilantro along the way. The risotto took on a green colour from the
tomalley. Yum! The wine: Roederer Estate l'Ermitage Brut 2003.
Lobster chowder: Mr. A made the base with roux and lobster
stock, seasoned it with paprika and white pepper, then added cream, cream style
corn, beaten egg, and at the last minute some lobster meat. The bowl was garnished with fingerling potato
roasted with rosemary and thyme, linguica, cilantro, and fried sage on the
lobster claw. Following the chowder, Mr.
and Mrs. A shared a piece of beef filet.
They drank a Fixin, which went well with both dishes.
Mrs. A liked the lobster chowder so much that Mr. A made it a
second time with some modifications. He
used a bottle of supermarket clam juice to supplement the remaining lobster
stock. He skipped the cream, potatoes
and linguica to stay healthy. But at the
last minute, he put in chopped “4504” hot dog, the infamous bacon studded hot
dog (so much for being healthy) and garnish of chives. Mrs. A liked that version too.
Chinese-style soft
scrambled egg with crab meat: Mrs. A
stirred slowly and gently beaten egg, mixed with crab meat, chopped yellow
chive, in a Chinese wok over low heat until it was no longer runny. Chopped cilantro was added before the egg was
completely set. The scrambled egg was
fluffy and moist, the chunks of crab meat sweet, the herbs fragrant. It was Mr. A’s favorite dish.
Crab udon: It was Sanuki
udon in a kombu broth seasoned with
kanro (a thick dark soy sauce), topped
with hedgehog mushrooms and maitake, juliennes
of abura-age (deep-fried tofu pocket),
negi and crab meat.
Dessert for the week was of course Christmas cake, the pannetone
of RubiRustichella d'Abruzzo, made with sultana raisins, candied citron and egg. It was
supplemented by the rich Walker’s shortbread.
