Ginger Scallion Dungeness Crab Noodles (薑葱北美大肉蟹炒麵, Goeng1 Cung1 Bak1 Mei5 Daai6 Juk6 Haai5 Caau2 Min6)

Dungeness crab is a crab that’s native to the West coast of the North America. Whenever it’s available, I try to purchase freshly cooked crab to use in dishes. Any crab can be used in this dish if Dungeness crab is not available, and if you’re not fortunate enough to be able to buy fresh cooked crab, canned or frozen can be substituted. For this dish, I used a variety of herbs (ginger, scallion, cilantro, and mint) to give this noodle dish a fresh and distinctive flavor. The shredded spice tofu gives the dish a texture contrast (to the other ingredients) and adds to the flavor of this noodle dish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb.	500 g.	Cooked Dungeness crab meat (北美大肉蟹, bak1 mei5 daai6 juk6 haai5) or use any crab that’s available, frozen or canned
10	10	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
8 oz.	227 g.	One package Kimbo brand Shredded Spice Tofu (五香豆腐絲, ng5 hoeng1 dau6 fu6 si1) or equivalent
10.5 oz.	297 g.	One 20 oz. (566 g.) can bamboo shoot strips (筍, seon2), drained, or use fresh if available
12 oz.	350 g.	Bean sprouts (芽菜, ngaa4 coi3)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ cup	125 ml.	Cilantro (芫茜, jyun4 sai1), cut into ½-inch (15 cm.) pieces
½ cup	125 ml.	Mint (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 cm.) 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.	454 g.	One package chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4) 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)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions

Kimbo Brand Shredded Spice Tofu
(五香豆腐絲, ng5 hoeng1 dau6 fu6 si1)

1. If using frozen Dungeness crab meat, thaw in a covered container overnight in the refrigerator. If using fresh cooked crab, remove the meat from the shell. Canned crab can also be used. Any crab can be used in this dish, just use what’s available.
2. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).
3. Open and drain the liquid from the Kimbo brand Shredded Spice Tofu package, or equivalent, and roughly cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.



Lee Kum Kee Brand Premium
Oyster Flavored Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4)

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. Wash the bean sprouts and remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
6. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
7. Wash and cut the green onions, cilantro, and mint into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
8. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. If using dried noodles, cook according to the instructions on the package until the noodles just become al dente, drain the noodles, and set aside. If using thawed, ready-made, or fresh noodles, “fluff” to separate the individual noodles (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 Shiitake mushrooms to the wok and brown the outside. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the shredded spice tofu. Stir fry the tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bamboo shoots. Stir fry the bamboo shoots and then transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bean sprouts. Stir fry the bean sprouts and then transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms.
6. 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 mushroom rehydration liquid (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.
7. Add the crab meat, green onions, cilantro, mint, and the contents of the bowl with the mushrooms 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.