Crab claws with fennel & tomatoes

For ➍
900 g cooked crab claws
1 fennel
400 g cherry tomatoes
2 spring onions
2 shallots
2 dl vermouth
2 dl white wine
3.8 dl of fish stock
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 sprig of fresh thyme
2 leaves of laurel

Slice the fennel and the spring onions. Press the clove of garlic. Shred the shallots and stew them in the olive oil. Add the fennel along with the crushed clove of garlic. Cook for 10 m until everything is soft. Add the thyme and bay leaves and extinguish with the vermouth, white wine and fish stock. Add the cherry tomatoes and allow to cook for 10 m. Add the crab claws and let it get hot for a while.
Finish with the spring onion and serve.

Quick remoulade sauce

For 25 cl
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tbs finely chopped green onions, white & green parts
2 tbs finely chopped sweet pickles
dash garlic powder
10 cl mayonnaise
1 tbs olive oil
2 ts fresh lemon juice
1 ts Dijon or Ghent mustard
few drops Worcestershire sauce
pepper

Combine all ingredients*.

Refrigerate for at least 1 h to blend flavors and chill.

*Add a little prepared horseradish.
**Excellent with crab, fish...

Crab & cucumber salad

For ➋
1 cucumber, sliced, peeled & seeded, sprinkled with salt
1 can of crab meat, drained
1 tbs of freshly shredded chives
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 ts nut oil
1 tbs rice vinegar
a pinch of chili powder

Let cucumber stand in a drainer for 30 m and let fluid drip away.
Combine oil, vinegar and chili.
Add crab meat, chives and garlic.
Rinse cucumber with water and pat dry. Add cucumber to the crab mixture.
Refrigerate for 1 h.
Serve with lightly toasted nutty bread.

Crab & avocado & Japanese style dressing

For ➍
1 long red chili, seeded & finely chopped
200 g cooked crab meat
1 ts lime juice, plus extra for squeezing
150 g rocket salad
1 ripe avocado, stone removed
1-2 ts chopped fresh chives
dressing:
2 tbs mirin*
½ ts wasabi paste**
1 tbs rice vinegar
4 drops sesame oil
½ ts sea salt or ¼ ts table salt

In a bowl, whisk together the mirin, wasabi, rice vinegar, sesame oil and salt to make a dressing.
Set aside 4 ts of the dressing to another bowl large enough to fit the salad in later.
To the first amount of dressing, add the finely chopped chili. Then add the crab meat. Mix thoroughly with a fork.
To the small amount of dressing in the other bowl, add the lime juice, salad leaves and stir well to mix.
Arrange salad on 4 plates.
Spoon a quarter of the crab mixture into a ramekin, pressing down to fit it all in, then turn out onto one of the four plates. Repeat with the remaining crab meat for the other 3 plates.
Using a ts, scoop out curls of avocado and dot around on top of the salad on the plates. Squeeze over a little lime juice. Sprinkle the chopped chives over the mounds of crab.
Serve with a small mound of rice, if necessary.

*Use sherry instead.
**Wasabi is close to horseradish which might be used instead.

A more genuine Japanese recipe for a starter with crab is Japanese leeks with crab.

Cold cucumber soup with crab

For ➍
1 l warm chicken broth
½ leek, sliced
1 onion, peeled & diced
1 cucumber, sliced
1 can crab, dried
10 leaves of mint, finely cut
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper
1 ts soda

Heat oil. Add vegetables. Sauté for 5 m.
Add broth and bring to boil.
Add pepper, salt and soda.
Mix and push trough a sieve. Let it cool.
Put a tbs of crab in a deep plate.
Pour the soup around. Garnish with mint.
Or: ladle the soup in a small bowl. Shred the mint over it. Carefully add a tbs of crab.

Read more crab & cucumber recipes: crab & cucumber salad.
Read more cucumber soup recipes: Arabian cucumber soup, Spanish white gazpacho.

Naganegi (Japanese leeks with crab)

For ➍
2 thick naganegi (or leeks)
20 cl water
1 ts gelatin
½ chicken broth cube
2 tbs fresh cream
1 tbs mayonnaise
dash sugar
100 g crab meat, cooked & shredded*

Cut the leeks into 4 cm lengths. Put in a saucepan of boiling water for 6 to 7 m, until slightly soft. Drain and cool. When cool, push out and remove the centers, leaving 2-3 layers of skin.

Combine the water, gelatin, and broth cube in a small microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave for 1 m.

Take out 2 ⅔ tbs (some 4 cl) of the gelatin liquid and put it in a small mixing bowl. Add the fresh cream, mayonnaise, sugar and crab meat, and mix. Set this bowl into a larger bowl of ice to chill.

When the mixture has jelled, use it to stuff the naganegi pieces. Refrigerate the remaining gelatin mixture for about 2 h. When chilled, spread it over serving plates, and arrange the stuffed naganegi on top.

Cut into small bites and serve as an appetizer with dry white wine, dry sherry or sake.

*Use fresh crab, or a good brand of canned or frozen crab.

The crab image comes from a 18th century Japanese woodblock album.