Crab Fried Rice

You can see the seafood theme from these past few posts.  My sister taught me this dish when she was still living up in Ohio living in her cute little apartment.  Us Tso sisters, we like - scratch - love to eat.  Seriously, a good portion of our conversations revolve around food.  The night we made this, we cooked a huge pot hoping for leftovers the next day for lunch.  We should have known better  because within 20 minutes, the entire pot of crab fried rice - GONE.  No, we didnt just have one bowl, not just two bowls, but we each had three bowls.  Not sure what got into us that night but man, we had a nice little pot belly that night and I would change it for anything!

As for the crab, it's a option of whether you use the canned crab meat (gasp, I know...) or the fresh lump crab from the seafood section.  If I could afford the fresh lump crab every time I make this dish, I would but alas, with a working PR girl budget, I must work with the canned crab.  It's okay, just use two cans and it is still pretty good.

Also, make your rice several hours before so it's not too sticky when you mix together or you can even use day old rice which sometimes works better!  Additionally, don't nix the cucumber slices.  It makes a huge difference - having a bit of crisp cucumber is so refreshing and complements the rice so well.

Crab Fried Rice

Recipe from my sister

1 pint fresh lump crab or 2 cans of crab

3 tbspn veg. oil (do not use olive oil - it actually messes up the taste)

4-5 cloves of garlic chopped

1 green onion chopped

2 eggs

3 tsp fish sauce (i really like the flavor of fish sauce and its saltiness, but add less if you don't)

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp light soy sauce

12 slices cucumber

2 cups rice (cook the rice several hours before so it's not steaming hot or sticky. You can use day old rice and quickly heat up in microwave before you add to the pan)

1. Beat the eggs and quickly scramble in the pan with a little bit of oil. Once done, take the eggs out and set aside.  In the same pan, add the rest of the oil and brown the garlic.  I put my heat on medium high so the garlic doesn't burn in 10 seconds.

2. Once they are lightly brown, add the rice, crab meat, eggs.  Give it a quick toss. 

3. Then add in the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes.

4. Sprinkle with green onion and serve with slices of cucumber! 

Shrimp & Crab Ceviche

I love seafood. You're not part of the Tso or Hung family if you don't - especially since our folks ingrained in us at every meal that fish would make us smarter and our vision better. Which, btw, don't trust because even with of all the fish I ate growing up, it didn't do a darn thing for me. 28 years later and I have almost legally blind vision. Awesome.

Anyways, while at a party hosted by my Twinkie, I met one of her friends who brought some ceviche and boy, oh boy, was it good. Prior to this, the thought of serving family and friends "raw" fish (yes, I know it's 'technically' cooked with the lemon/citrus juice but still....) and potentially giving them food poisoning gives me a little heartburn. So this ceviche with only shrimp and real lump crab was good enough for me to try! I made it for our christmas dinner one year and it was a hit. Very simple and with a few odd ingredients, like V8. I think I will try plain tomato sauce/puree the next time I make this. Regardless, the taste is pretty delicious that I think this gives my guacamole a good running. Hrm, maybe I should have a guacamole and ceviche showdown?

Really important for this is to use good quality lump crab. Don't you dare use the crab in the can where you find the tunafish. Go to the fresh seafood section and ask for their lump crab - or you can look at the refrigerated section next to them where they should have fresh lump crab in the sealed plastic containers. I don't personally like the claw meat and end up paying the 15 bucks for the good lump meat.

As for the shrimp - again, don't you dare use the frozen cooked shrimp or shrimp in the can. Buy fresh shrimp (headless) and right now, they seems to be a great deal. I saw at Kroger the other day, large shrimp for 3.99 a lb! What a steal!

Shrimp & Crab Ceviche
Serving: This make a TON. When I say ton, I mean I can fill 4 quart containers of this stuff. If you're not serving this for a party, cut the recipe in half.

7-8 jalapenos (seeded and diced)

7-8 plum tomatos (diced)
1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
1 medium yellow onion (chopped) --> You know me. I don't like raw onions so I omitted this.
2-3 limes (juiced)
2 lemons (juiced)
Zest from one lemon and one lime (make sure to zest before juicing)
7-8 cloves of garlic (minced)
6 avocadoo (large diced)
1 lbs. lump crabmeat
1-2 lbs. boiled shrimp (large diced)
24 oz. V-8 vegetable juice --> I use about half, taste and then add more.
1 jar of cocktail sauce with horseradish
S&P

1. Wash the raw shrimp. Boil water and add a good spoonful of salt - v. similar to cooking pasta. Add the shrimp and let it cook for only a few minutes. These things cook fast! They should have an opaque pink color when they are done. Take it out and put under colder water or in an ice bath - to stop it from cooking anymore. Who wants overcooked shrimp, right? When it's cool enough to touch, peel and chop into big chunks.

2. Start cutting and dicing all the ingredients. This is the longest part.

3. Then mix everything together in a large bowl (EXCEPT for the crabmeat and avocado). Add some S&P to taste - make sure to taste before you add more. If you want to add some dashes of hot sauce here, you can. Then, lightly fold in the crabmeat and the avocado. I like to let this sit in the fridge, covered for at least an hour to let the flavors mesh. Then serve with chips!