serves
4
cook
30 minutes
serves
4
people
cooking
30
minutes
Ingredients
100g blue swimmer crab meat per person
½ avocado per person
a pile of fresh coriander leaves for garnish
lemon juice, to taste
1 red chilli, finely diced (seed removed)
Lime sauce:
250g caster sugar
250ml cold water
5 kaffir lime leaves
small knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
2 small red chillies, split down them middle
2 coriander roots, well washed
Crab herbs
5 mint leaves, finely shredded
15 coriander leaves, finely shredded
3 chives, finely chopped
Instructions
To make lime sauce, bring all the ingredients to the boil, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let infuse for a further hour. Strain before using.
To make crab herbs, finely shred the mint and the coriander, using a very sharp knife so as not to bruise the leaves. Add finely chopped chives and mix together.
To assemble, mix the crab with a decent pinch of the herbs. There should be a fairly even ratio of meat to herbs. Stir in enough crab dressing to moisten the meat and bind together the herbs and the meat. Taste. If it is a little tart, add a little sugar. If it is too sweet, add a little more crab meat and a tiny splash of the rice vinegar.
Mash the avocado with salt and pepper and a couple of drops of lemon juice to taste (if you add too much juice, the avocado will be too mushy to hold the crab meat mix).
In a circular mould, such as a metal or plastic ring, place the avocado mash as a base in the middle of the plate. Pile on the crab mix with the ring in place. Lift off the ring and hope your crab meat stays in place. Just tidy it up if stray pieces fall off the avocado.
Spoon the lime sauce around the crab and avocado stack and sprinkle finely diced chilli for colour. Place the pile of fresh coriander leaves on top of the crab and then serve.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
