Meat Crab Hot Pot
Meat crab hot pot is a richly sauced casserole dish featuring live meat crabs, paired with tender-stewed potatoes and springy rice cakes. The secret sauce is simmered slowly so the crab absorbs the broth’s essence, yielding a sweet, slightly spicy bite; the broth over rice is exceptional. Rich in high-quality protein and trace elements, it’s perfect for sharing at a friends’ gathering!
Ingredients and Tools
- Meat crab (recommended priority from high to low: Burmese black crab, green crab, swimming crab, Chinese mitten crab)
- Shrimp (optional)
- Potato
- Rice cakes (hard rice cakes recommended; fresh rice cakes also ok)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Dried chili
- Green pepper
- Red pepper
- Oyster sauce
- Seafood sauce (optional)
- Yellow soybean paste (optional)
- Sweet bean paste (or BBQ sauce, optional)
- Ketchup (if none, squeeze half a tomato and mash)
- Starch (cornstarch or potato starch)
- Rock sugar
- Chicken bouillon
- White pepper powder
- Cooking wine (can use yellow wine instead)
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Beer
- Water
Measurements
- Meat crab 500 g
- Shrimp 200 g
- Potato 450 g
- Rice cakes 200 g
- Onion 100 g
- Garlic 20 g (if adding shrimp, add 10 g)
- Ginger 15 g
- Dried chili 5 g
- Green pepper 30 g
- Red pepper 30 g
- Oyster sauce 20 g
- Cooking oil 30-50 ml (if adding shrimp, add 10 ml; for deep-frying add 500 mL)
- Seafood sauce 15 g (substitute: oyster sauce 12 g + white sugar 3 g)
- Yellow soybean paste 15 g (substitute: light soy sauce 12 ml + dark soy sauce 2 ml + white sugar 1 g)
- Sweet bean paste 10 g (substitute: white sugar 5.5 g + light soy sauce 4 ml + dark soy sauce 0.5 ml)
- Ketchup 10 g
- Starch 40 g
- Rock sugar 10 g
- Chicken bouillon 3 g
- White pepper powder 2 g (if adding shrimp, add 1 g)
- Cooking wine 15 ml
- Light soy sauce 20 ml
- Dark soy sauce 5 ml
- Beer 200 ml (if adding shrimp, add 50-100 ml)
- Water 800 ml (if adding shrimp, add 200 ml)
Steps
- Cut potatoes into 3 cm cubes; cut green/red peppers into diamond slices with 4 cm sides; cut onion into 3 cm-wide crescent wedges; slice rice cakes into 1 cm thick pieces
- Chop crab into 50-80 g pieces, coat with a thin layer of starch, deep-fry at 180 °C for 1 minute and remove
- Add oil to the pot; stir-fry garlic, ginger, and dried chili until fragrant; add all sauces + rock sugar and stir-fry over low heat until red oil appears, be careful not to burn the bottom
- Add crab, potato, beer, and water; bring to a boil then simmer over low heat for 12 minutes
- Add rice cakes and green/red peppers; turn to high heat to reduce until the sauce can cling to the surface of the ingredients; finish by sprinkling white pepper powder
Notes
- It is recommended to freeze for 20 minutes to stun the crab (do not freeze hard!), or insert chopsticks through the mouthparts to destroy the nerve
- If using frozen crab, fully thawed crab legs are easy to fall off and can cause meat loss. It is recommended to coat while half-thawed and extend frying time to 2 minutes
- If the stove power is low, the oil temperature drops quickly when ingredients are added. Preheat the oil to 200 °C and fry in batches
- Be sure to remove the crab stomach (triangular sac), gills, and crab heart (hexagonal white piece)
- Make sure the starch-coated crab is dry before going into the pot; hot oil splashes easily when it hits water
- Never use dead crabs (except store-bought frozen; however, once thawed and not used promptly, it is also not ok)
- Do not eat with persimmon or strong tea
- People with gout should eat with caution
- After slicing rice cakes, soak in cold water and rinse before cooking to prevent sticking; keep them on the surface in the pot—if they sink to the bottom they can burn
- If you are pinched by a crab or scalded, rinse with cold water for 15 minutes; if severe, seek medical attention promptly; if the wound is deep, be sure to seek medical attention. If you follow this guide’s process and find problems or improvements, please submit an Issue or Pull request.