Cook the Book: Garlic and Black Pepper Soft-Shell Crabs

Name: Cook the Book: Garlic and Black Pepper Soft-Shell Crabs
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 59 milliliters freshly ground black pepper; 118 milliliters fish sauce; 59 milliliters minced garlic; 1 Tbsp kosher salt; 710 milliliters rice flour; 4 servings Vegetable oil, for frying

Watching your figure? This gluten free, dairy free, and pescatarian recipe has 474 calories, 9g of protein, and 3g of fat per serving. This recipe serves 4. If you have pepper, rice flour, vegetable oil, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes roughly 30 minutes.

Instructions

Fill a deep, heavy pot with a lid about one-third full with oil, and heat it until a deep-fat thermometer reads 375°F.

Ingredients you will need

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Kitchen Thermometer

Pot

In the meantime, combine the rice flour, salt, pepper, and garlic in a medium bowl.

Ingredients you will need

Rice Flour

Garlic

Pepper

Salt

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Put the fish sauce in a small bowl. Dip each piece of crab very briefly into the fish sauce, gently shaking off excess, and then into the rice flour mix.

Ingredients you will need

Fish Sauce

Rice Flour

Crab

Dip

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Roll the crab over and shake off any extra flour. Set aside. Repeat this process, until all the crab halves are dredged.

Ingredients you will need

All Purpose Flour

Shake

Crab

Roll

When the oil reaches 375°F, gently lay the crabs, top side down, in the oil. Don’t crowd the pot—if necessary, fry them in batches—and use the lid as needed when the crabs are first added to the oil to avoid splattering. After 1 to 2 minutes, when the crabs are golden brown, turn them over and cook for another 2 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Pot

Drain on clean brown paper bags and eat hot.