Prep time
10 mins
Cooking Time
60 mins
Serves
4
Ingredients
For the crab
- 200g MSC white and brown crab meat
- 2-4 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 tsp finely chopped chives
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the old-bay style spices:
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp seaweed flakes
- ½ tsp celery salt
- ½ tsp of ground white pepper
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Pinch of Cayenne
For the pickled sea greens
- Handful of samphire or foraged sea vegetables
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
- ½ bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
- 100ml cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- Pinch of sea salt
To serve
- 4 brioche rolls
- Spring onions and chive flowers to garnish
- Lemon salt [make by blitzing 2 tbsp sea salt flakes with the zest from 2 lemons]
Method
1. Start by mixing your picked crab meat with mayo, shallot, chive and lemon. Season with the spice blend and keep tasting to get the balance of flavour you enjoy. Taste the crab and add a little more of the spices bit-by-bit, until you have the desired profile you enjoy.
2. Next pickle your vegetables by simply covering in a hot pickling solution of vinegar, sugar, garlic, chilli and salt. Allow the veg to soften and cool for 30-45 mins then strain and keep in a sealed container in the fridge.
3. Warm and bar-mark your bread rolls on the grill. Slice the rolls and serve the spiced crab on top of a generous layer of pickled vegetables. Garnish with chive flowers, spring onions and a pinch of lemon salt.
Top Fish Prep Tip
If given the choice I almost always choose 50/50 white and brown meat when cooking with crab. The brown meat has so much depth of flavour whilst the white meat is delicate and sweet, when you use them together you get the best all-around crab-tasting dishes. This spiced crab filling also really lends itself to being potted in a Kilner jar, covered with a layer of clarified butter and stored in the fridge for a pate-style party starter.