Dungeness Crab and Quail Egg Shallot Sauce Noodles (紅蔥鵪鶉蛋北美大肉蟹麵, Hung4 Cung1 Am1 Ceon1 Daan6 Bak1 Mei5 Daai6 Juk6 Haai5 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Aug 2016. The Cantonese for Dungeness crab was added to the title.

Crab and eggs is a tasty combination in any dish. In this case quail eggs, rather than chicken, are used. Quail eggs are small enough to be placed entirely into your mouth with the other ingredients when eating (try that with a chicken egg!). Fresh quail eggs can be purchased at your local Asian market, but then you have to hard boil and then peel them before use, or you can buy a canned quail eggs and just open the can. Unpeeled straw mushrooms (they also come in a can) are used because they match the shape and size of the quail eggs. Peeled straw mushrooms can be substituted if the unpeeled version is not handy.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Cooked Dungeness crab meat (北美大肉蟹, bak1 mei5 daai6 juk6 haai5) or equivalent
6.7 oz.	190 g.	One 15 oz. (425 g.) can quail eggs in water (鵪鶉蛋, am1 ceon1 daan6), drained
7.4 oz.	210 g.	One 15 oz. (425 g.) can unpeeled straw mushrooms (草菇, cou2 gu1), drained
10.5 oz.	297 g.	One 20 oz. (566 g.) can bamboo shoot strips (筍, seon2), drained, or use fresh if available
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 lb.	500 g.	Chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Bull Head Brand Shallot Sauce (紅蔥醬, hung4 cung1 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Kim Ve Wong Brand Thick Soy Sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Kim Ve Wong Brand
Thick Soy Sauce
(膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3)

Bull Head Brand Shallot Sauce
(紅蔥醬, hung4 cung1 zoeng3)

Preparation Instruction

1. If using frozen cooked crab meat, thaw in the refrigerator in a covered container overnight. Take the cooked Dungeness crab meat, or equivalent, out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Prepare the crab meat by removing any shell fragments.
2. Open and drain the can with the quail eggs.
3. Open and drain the can with the unpeeled straw mushrooms. Peeled straw mushrooms can be substituted if the unpeeled is not available.
4. Open and drain the can with the bamboo shoots, or use fresh if available (wash first). Remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Bull Head brand shallot sauce or equivalent, Kim Ve Wong brand thick soy sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package and until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles and set aside. If ready-made or fresh noodles are used, “fluff” the noodles to separate them (i.e. you don’t want put a single mass of noodles into the wok).
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the quail eggs to the wok and quickly stir fry them gently to keep the eggs intact as possible. Set the quail eggs aside in a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the straw mushrooms. Put the mushrooms into the bowl with the eggs.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add some liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing wine; but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone. You want the noodles to get burned before adding more oil to the noodles and turning them over, repeating the process.
5. Add the green onions, crab meat, and the contents of the bowl with the eggs back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.