Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, for frying
3 cups rice flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 cup fish sauce
8 large soft-shell crabs, preferably jumbo or "whale" size, dressed and cut in half crosswise
Procedure:
Fill a deep, heavy pot with a lid about one-third full with oil, and heat it until a deep fat thermometer reads 375ºF. In the meantime, combine the rice flour, salt, pepper, and garlic in a medium 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. Roll the crab over and shake off any extra flour. Set aside. Repeat this process, until all the crab halves are dredged. When the oil reaches 375ºF, 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. Drain on clean brown paper bags and eat hot.
Book: Cooking in the Moment, Copyright 2011
Author: Andrea Reusing
Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc.
Recipe Author: Andrea Reusing
Original Photograph By: John Kernick, © 2011
Photograph Retouched By: Recipe Spy
Source: http://www.outerbankscatch.com/sites/default/files/OBCatchFinal1_0.pdf