Saturday, January 8, 2022

Dungeness Crab Omelet ( Torta de Cangrejo)



Two days ago, I prepared my favorite dish, normally served only on special occasion. It is the Dungeness Crab Omelet ( torta de Cangrejo) with shredded cabbage and sweet Vidalia Onions from Hawaii. Today is not my birthday or some other special occasion, but I have two whole crabs left-over from our New Year Lunch. The Dungeness crabs were on sale( for only $7.99/lb) at Safeway for the last couple of days.

The last time I tasted this dish was a couple of years ago, but the crab was from the Maryland crabs known also as the blue crabs. Preparing the dish is simple. The hardest part is to remove the crab meat from body, the claws and legs. 
 
The cabbage is shredded (1 bowl) and sauteed with the onions in olive oil until partially cooked. An equivalent amount of crab meat is added to the shredded cabbage and onions and cooked in olive oil until the cabbage is fully cooked . The crab and cabbage patty mix is added to beaten eggs with a small amount of corn starch. The patty is then fried in olive oil until the egg is cooked. The omelet is served with Picante Sauce (Hot or Mild) with steam rice. If you do not a cabbage, just the onions will suffice. The cabbage also give bulk to the dish.

My other recipe is the use of cube potatoes, bean sprouts or green beans( julienne) instead of the shredded cabbage. Try it and let me know if it is good.

Do you know the difference between the Dungeness and Maryland Crabs. The Maryland crabs, also known as blue crabs are much smaller in size and very similar to the Philippine crabs in appearance and taste. The Dungeness crabs are big and are caught here in the San Francisco Bay area and northward up to Alaska. The Maryland crabs are from the Chesapeake Bay of Northern Maryland and Virginia.

The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister (formerly Cancer magister), is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to 20 cm (7.9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington. The crabs is a special attraction to tourists in the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf during the Crab Season. The season for the San Francisco Bay starts in the second Tuesday of November. I have posted several videos on Crabbing in my recent article in case you have not read it.


 

 This dish is also the favorite of my mother- Paz Balleza Katague(RIP)

 

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Side Dishes to Complement Whole Dungeness Crabs

Finally, here's the article on Roasted Garlic Crab and Noodle( see link below*) that I heard from Ditas.

 
Enjoying Crabs with Your Hands

Roasted Garlic Crab and Garlic Noodle

Roasted garlic crab and garlic noodle is a scrumptious seafood dish that will make you drool. The garlic noodle complement the roasted garlic crab so well. I use linguine and it is delicious.

This roasted garlic crab copycat recipe was inspired by Thanh Long in San Francisco and Crustacean in Beverly Hills, California.

If you’ve been there, you know what I mean. They are well known for their roasted garlic crab and garlic noodle which is a family secret recipe.

Blue crabs is a great substitute for Dungeness crabs. It is sweet and tasty compared to any other type of crab. Thank God for this copycat recipe, we can now have roasted garlic crab and garlic noodle at the comfort of our home for a lot less money.

*https://www.todaysdelight.com/roasted-garlic-crab-and-garlic-noodle/ 


 

Feasting with Dungeness Crabs- Jan 1, 2022



 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...