Thai Style Crab Cakes

What you will need:


6 medium raw shrimp, shelled, washed and deveined

1 teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce)

1 pound fresh lump crab meat, picked over for cartilage

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped scallion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 fresh chili, preferably Thai, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons bread crumbs, preferably fresh

About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging

Peanut or vegetable oil as needed

Lime wedges for serving.

1. Purée shrimp in a food processor (smaller is better) until you have a smooth paste, or chop and mash by hand. Add fish sauce. In a bowl, mix the shrimp purée, crab meat, egg, scallion, cilantro, chili, ginger and salt and pepper; add just enough bread crumbs to stiffen mixture a bit. Refrigerate mixture until you are ready to cook; it will be easier to shape into cakes if you refrigerate it for 30 minutes or more.

2. Season flour with salt and pepper. Film bottom of a large skillet with oil and place over medium-high heat. Shape crab meat mixture into cakes 1 inch thick and as wide as you want. Dredge each in flour, and cook, adjusting heat as necessary and turning once (very gently), until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes a side. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings.


Source: NY Times

Fried Clams in Chilli

Clams (locally called lala) are popular in this part of the world. You can cook them in soup with or without Chinese wine or you can stir-fry them with a few varieties of condiments and ingredients. If you like these mollusc spicy, fry them with chillis or black pepper or simply fry them with garlic and spring onions.
















Here is a recipe for FRIED LALA WITH CHILLI

Ingredients

600g fresh lala

1 clove garlic (smashed)

2.5cm piece of ginger, finely sliced

6 bird’s-eye chillies, finely cut

1 tablespoon fermented black beans (taucheong)

A few drops of light soy sauce

Salt and sugar to taste

A dash of Chinese wine (optional)


Method

Saute the smashed garlic, ginger and bird’s-eye chillies until fragrant.

Add the fermented black beans, light soy sauce, sugar and salt.

Throw in the lala and fry until cooked but not overdone, lest the texture of the flesh be rubbery.

Add a dash of wine (if using).

Dish up and serve hot.


Source: The Star