Shrimp and Dungeness Crab with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆炒蝦仁北美大肉蟹, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Caau2 Haa1 Jan4 Bak1 Mei5 Daai6 Juk6 Haai5)

Happy Lunar New Year! Thanks for following my recipes for the past Lunar year. Although I’m a few days early in expressing my good wishes to you, here’s a dish appropriate for eating on that day. Although this is not a traditional dish for the New Year’s, it has ingredients often found in dishes served on that day. Dungeness crab is a local delicacy found on the West coast of the United States, but this year the catch has been low due to the weather and other reasons, which has made the crab expensive this year. The year before, the crabs were more abundant, so I still have some frozen in my freezer. While freshly cooked Dungeness crab is always preferred, frozen also works. The combination of the crab with the shrimp and scrambled eggs, makes this dish. The sauce ingredients are also kept simple, so as to not hide the seafood flavors of the ingredients. You’ll notice that there’s not much sauce in this dish, which is the way I prefer to make this dish, but if you desire more, there are instructions at the end of the recipe to increase the amount.

I’ve been concentrating on writing for my travel blog: https://ducksoupeasytravel.blogspot.com/, so my output of recipes has been low for the past year. I apologize for those who have been following this blog, but take a look at the travel blog. While I’m still cooking (and eating!), I continue to photograph the dishes and have a large backlog of pictures to process. Enjoy your Lunar New Year celebration and I’ll see you next year.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Prawn or shrimp meat (蝦仁, haa1 jan4)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
½ Tbs.	7.5 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 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
¾ lb.	375 g.	Cooked Dungeness Crab meat (北美大肉蟹, bak1 mei5 daai6 juk6 haai5) or equivalent, fresh (preferred) or frozen
1 lb.	500 g.	Snow peas (荷蘭豆, ho4 laan4 dau6)
8	8	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, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
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
3	3	Eggs (雞蛋, gai1 daan6)
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Kim Ve Wong brand Thick Soy Sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3) or equivalent, or dark sauce (老抽, lou5 cau1)
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)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions (Day Before Cooking)

1. To give shrimp a “crunchy” texture, like that found in restaurant dishes, use the technique described here: Technique: How To Make Shrimp Crunchy, to prepare the shrimp.
2. If using frozen cooked Dungeness crab meat or equivalent, thaw the crab meat in a covered container in the refrigerator. If using a whole crab, remove the meat from the shell, place in a covered container, and refrigerate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preparation Instructions (Day of Cooking)

1. Remove the shrimp from the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Follow the marinating instructions here: Technique: How To Make Shrimp Crunchy.
2. Remove the crab meat from the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Pour boiling water over the small dried whole Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid and remove the stems. Cut the Shiitake mushrooms 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).
4. Break and scramble the eggs in a small bowl.
5. Open the Kimbo brand Shredded Spice Tofu package, or equivalent, discard any liquid, and cut into 2-inch pieces. The easiest method to cut the shredded tofu is to remove the shredded tofu from the package (it comes out as one single mass) and cut the mass into thirds.
6. Wash and remove the string from the snow peas by grasping each snow pea in one hand and pulling the tip the length of the snow pea with the other.
7. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
8. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.
9. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Kim Ve Wong brand Thick Soy Sauce (or equivalent) or dark soy sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the eggs and scramble them while the wok is heating up. To get fluffy scrambled eggs, use this technique: As the eggs set, remove the pan or wok from the heat while continually scrambling the eggs with a spatula. Once the eggs stop setting off the heat, put the wok back onto the heat until the eggs start setting again. Continue taking the pan or wok on and off the heat as the eggs set until fully scrambled. Transfer the eggs to a bowl when complete.
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the shrimp to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and stir fry until the shrimp just turn pink. The shrimp should look undercooked. You may have to cook the shrimp in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl (not the bowl with the scrambled eggs).
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the shrimp.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the shredded tofu. Stir fry the tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the shrimp.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the snow peas. Stir fry to brown the snow peas. 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. Add the contents of the bowl with the shrimp back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
6. Add the green onions, scrambled eggs, and sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish, and serve with Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou¹ Zai² Faan⁶) or steamed rice.