Macau Crab Congee
Macau's classic crab congee, with a silky smooth rice porridge base, sweet and succulent crab meat, enhanced by ginger and scallions – a bowl of pure comfort.
Ingredients
10 items- Rice 150 g (about 3/4 cup)
- Water crabs (or green crabs) 2 (about 500 g)
- Ginger 1 piece
- Scallions 2 stalks
- Cilantro to taste
- Cooking wine 1 tbsp
- Salt 1 tsp
- White pepper powder 1/2 tsp
- Sesame oil 1 tsp
- Cooking oil 1 tbsp
Nutrition
Steps （6 steps）
Rinse the rice, mix with 1 tbsp cooking oil, and marinate for 30 minutes. Clean the crabs, remove the carapace and gills, chop into 4 pieces each, and marinate with cooking wine and some ginger slices for 10 minutes.
Bring 1.5 L of water to a boil in a pot, add the marinated rice. Boil over high heat then reduce to low heat, simmer gently for 30 minutes until the rice grains burst and the congee base is thick and creamy.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in another pan, stir-fry ginger slices until fragrant. Add crab pieces and stir-fry until the shells turn red (about 2 minutes), splash in cooking wine to remove any fishy odor.
Pour the stir-fried crab and ginger into the congee base, cook over medium heat for 5 minutes to allow the crab flavor to infuse.
Season with salt and white pepper, drizzle with sesame oil, sprinkle with chopped scallions and cilantro, stir well and turn off the heat.
Ladle into bowls and serve hot. Add extra white pepper if desired.
Tips
Marinating the rice with oil makes the congee smoother. Always use fresh crabs. Do not overcook the crab when stir-frying to keep the meat tender.
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