The Dungeness Garlic Crab Butter Noodles are worth any season’s price, carry just the right amount of heat, and are even better with a squeeze of kalamansi. It’s the Thanh Long experience at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the calories. The recipe is posted on my blog if you want it. (www.UltimateBites.com)
The Golden Gindara was the very first black cod dish I’ve had anywhere outside of my own home that actually did the fish justice. They must have noticed our reaction because the manager brought us a second serving of the succulently steamed fish free of charge.
One of my favorite dishes is no longer on the menu. The
On my first visit the Salt & Pepper Drunken Shrimp must have left all their shrimpiness in their rice wine bath, and were not crispy enough to eat confidently knowing that you are not going to choke on shrimp shell. The lack of a crispy shell on the shrimp, and the dryness of the meat on the adobo wings both tell me that their fry temperature, on that day anyway, was too low. Adobo wings on all subsequent visits were excellent, but I have not yet worked up enough courage to order the shrimp again.
Dungeness Garlic Crab Butter Noodles
Serves 4
From Tim Luym of Poleng Lounge in San Francisco. If you're starting with a whole crab, you can use the "butter," or tomalley, to boost the crab flavor. Maine Rock or peekytoe crab can be used instead of Dungeness. At the restaurant, Luym serves the noodles in the crab shell.
INGREDIENTS:
For the sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce (see note)
2 teaspoons sriracha (see note)
2 tablespoons michiu (rice cooking wine, see note)
3 tablespoons kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce, see Note)
2 tablespoons mirin (see note)
For the noodles
1 pound fresh egg noodles, chow mein thickness
3 ounces unsalted butter
4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 pound meat from a 1 1/2- to 2-pound Dungeness crab
Reserved crab "butter" (optional, see Note)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Chopped cilantro, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Instructions: Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
Boil 3 quarts of water, and cook egg noodles to al dente, about 6-8 minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse in cold water and set aside.
Combine butter and garlic in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Once butter begins to brown and garlic gets fragrant (about 1 minute), add the egg noodles and stir until butter coats them evenly.
Turn heat to high. Continue to saute for 3 minutes, adding the sauce mixture and combining evenly with the noodles. Once noodles have been cooked through (2 minutes), add the crabmeat and "butter" (tomalley), if using, and cook for an additional 1 minute.
Stir in lemon juice. Serve noodles on a plate, top with cilantro.
Note: Fish sauce, sriracha, michiu, kecap manis and mirin can be found at Asian markets. To extract "butter" or tomalley from a crab, lift off top shell and spoon out the thick yellow substance.
Per serving: 700 calories, 24 g protein, 91 g carbohydrate, 22 g fat (12 g saturated), 183 mg cholesterol, 2,377 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.