Stir Fried Garlic Crab with Rice Cakes

The most delicious Chinese stir fried crab you will ever make at home that’s simple, fast, and easy.

I think like most folks stuck at home nowadays we occasionally have that craving for our favorite restaurant dishes…mine this week happens to be stir fried crabs. The thought of enjoying some delectable crustaceans coated in a wonderfully fragrant garlicky sweet salty soy sauce permeated with ginger and green onions has entered my so many times! Hence the topic of today’s recipe post!

Yes I’m going to show you how you can make this well loved classic Cantonese dish right at home…restaurant style!

Fresh ingredients is key.

Like any good dish, getting your hands on the freshest and best ingredients is the important. For this recipe, you will need to get yourself a live crab and I mean the LIVELIER and FEISTIER the better! You don’t want those sleepy ones at the bottom of the tank. The one we got at our local Asian grocery store was so brutal my husband had to lift him out with 2 tongs and he nipped at the seafood monger while being weighed…phew what a battle.

Rice cakes a.k.a. epic sauce sponge.

Okay so with the fresh crab in tow….next thing you need that’s equally important for this dish are the sliced rice cakes. If you ever had a Korean dish called Tteobokki this is practically the same thing except they are sliced into round discs rather than small cylinders. You can find these in almost any Asian grocery store in the fridge aisle but you can also find it online here.

I personally love the texture of rice cakes because they are wonderfully soft and chewy but best of all are an AWESOME SAUCE SPONGE! Especially for this crab dish you want something to soak up all that delicious umami crabby soy saucy flavor at the bottom. Trick to using these is to soak them for a few minutes in cold water and break them into individual pieces prior to cooking. This helps cut down the time they need to cook and also ensures that each one remains separate.

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Cook it fast and serve it piping hot.

As with any authentic Chinese cooking it’s done fast and done in a SUPER HOT WOK! I’m sure most of us don’t have a professional gas stove with volcano fire spitting out like in a typical Chinese restaurant but don’t worry it can still be done.

All you need is a large enough wok to ensure all your ingredients have room to be tossed around. The next thing is to crank up your stove top element to the highest and wait a few minutes until it’s very hot. After that, add in the oil and ingredients and toss, toss, toss! Don’t turn down the heat just keep it on high throughout the entire cooking process. What you’re after here is high heat and speed to seal in all the flavors and make sure your ingredients are not overcooked.

Now that you have all the basics, give this recipe a try and let us know how you like it in the comments below!

Stir Fried Garlic Crab with Rice Cakes

Prep time: 10 min     
Cook time: 10 h   
Total time: 20 min   
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 live Dungeness crab (2 lb)
• 2 cups sliced rice cakes
• 3 inch ginger thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 2 green onions
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup oil

Instructions

1. Wash the crab thoroughly with a brush and break it down into pieces making sure to remove the gills and head fat. Coat meaty ends of the legs lightly with flour and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a bowl soak the rice cakes for 5-10 min in cold water and break up any pieces stuck together. Then drain the water and set aside for later.
3. In large wok, heat the oil on high heat and fry the ginger slices and white parts of the green onions cut into 2 inch pieces. Save the green parts by also cutting into 2 inch pieces for later. Fry for 2-3 min until golden brown and fragrant.
4. Add in the crab pieces and stir fry quickly constantly tossing. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and fry for about 3-4 min until starting to change color.
5. Add in the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, rice cakes, and minced garlic and toss for another 1 minute. Cover with a lid and steam for 2-3 min. If the wok is becoming dry and rice cakes begin to stick to the bottom add 2-3 tbsp of water and stir to mix well.
6. Toss in the green parts of the green onions and serve hot immediately. Enjoy!