josie's kitchen

I remember when my father used to go to Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao) to oversee the tomato plantation he financed that will supply our stall here in Manila. He will stay there from June, the start of harvest season until November, but come home for a while in August in time for my mother’s birthday and he will always bring home big fat crabs and durian candies.

It’s been so long since we had a crab meal for lunch. A fish vendor happened to passed by at our place and have crabs and shellfish in his cart. Crab is quite expensive and not always available here being  far from the sea. So hubby bought a kilo which we cooked for lunch in a coconut milk. Though the crabs were not as fat as what my father used to bring, we enjoyed eating it as much.

• 1 kilo crab (cut into halves, so the sauce can penetrate inside the crab)
• 1 cup pure coconut milk ( use canned or  powdered pack if fresh is not available)
• 2 cups kangkong leaves  (swamp spinach)
• med. size ginger root cut into strips
• 1 med. onion chopped
• 3 pcs. hot chili (siling labuyo) or depending on the spiciness preferred
• salt

• In a deep sauce pan, combine ginger, onion and coconut milk and simmer while stirring to prevent curdling, until creamy.
• Add the crab. Cover and let simmer until the crab is done. (No need to add more water, because crab will release some its natural juice.)
• Add kangkong and chili, continue cooking until the veggie is half cooked.
• Add salt to taste.

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