Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia · Volume 09, The Taro Patch, the Pounding Stone and the Sakau Cup
Ukaeb
Palau
Illustration
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Researched
- Researched from 35 sources in the brief
Minced crab meat, bound with coconut milk or cream, served back in individual crab shells, at room temperature or lightly warmed, never cooked hard, since the crab is already cooked and the point is the cream, not further heat.
As tradition built it
Serves 4 to 6. About 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 400 g crab meat (mangrove or brown crab), picked
- 4 to 6 whole crab shells, cleaned, for serving
- 150 ml thick coconut cream
- 1 scant tsp ginger, grated
- a squeeze lime
- to taste salt, to season
Method
- Pick the crab meat, keeping four to six whole shells clean for serving.
- Fold the meat through the coconut cream with the grated ginger and a squeeze of lime.
- Season with salt and pack back into the shells.
- Serve at room temperature or lightly warmed, never cooked hard, since the crab is already cooked and the point is the cream, not further heat.
Notes
Quantities reconstructed from documented technique, order of operations and stated timings; no named traditional measured source was found for this dish.
What a modern chef changes
The cream whipped to real body, and the shells finished under a hot grill
Rung 3
Method
- Whip the coconut cream to soft peaks with a stick blender before folding through the crab, giving it real body rather than a loose sauce.
- Pack into the shells and finish each one under a hot grill for 90 seconds only, just enough to warm and lightly colour the surface without cooking the crab further.
- Dust with toasted, ground coconut for a texture contrast the traditional dish does not have.