Sweet Sour Crab Wrapped In Artisan Bread

I was informed by Ping of  Ping's Picking that my blog Elinluv's Tidbits Corner was one of the 65 blogs picked and featured in InTrend  Malay magazine March issue  ..it is an honor  to be featured in the malay magazine  :))  You can read more about it from Babe In The City blog . Congrats to all the other blogs featured in the March 2012  issue...sorry for the digress....okay back to the crab cuisine....:p

After having savored this crab cuisine which was served wrapped in a bread loaf , I attempted to replicate it with much success to my utmost delight.  Sweet Sour Crab wrapped in bread parcel !  The one served at the restaurant was yummy good but the fact that the bread was deep fried in hot oil deters me from frequent indulgence.   I decided to make my own sweet sour crab wrapped in artisan bread instead,  for I find artisan bread suitable for this heavenly crab cuisine. Thank you Ronnie and Kitty for introducing us to this dish and after which I was inspired to replicate it :)

Piggy Jo was home last weekend , I sprang a surprise on her and served her this finger licking good sweet sour crab wrapped in artisan bread....I wished I had taken a snapshot of her expression !  :p  My artisan bread turned out great with a crispy crust and soft interior . I really have to thank Peter Reinhart for his tips on how to make the crust... even Wild Boar loves this bread....dipping the bread into the flavorful crab scented sweet sour and chilli hot gravy...awwwww  it was truly finger licking good and the fiery taste set my tongue dancing !  

I managed to get some mud crabs from the central market @RM 22 a kilo, the lady selling the crabs advised me to get medium size for their shells are softer. How true, the shell was soft and easy for us to discard the shell when eating :))   I really thank my beloved Mom for teaching me how to prepare the live crabs for cooking and it was my turn to show my Piggy how to ' kill ' a  live crab :p  The photos below are for drooling and to set your salivary glands into full action ! :PPP

I concocted my own sweet sour sauce -  Simple sauce yet heavenly delicious...YUMM YUMMY !
 Ingredients for the sauce:-

This amount of sauce is for 1 kg of crabs

1 cup of sour plum sauce ,
4 tbsp of fermented soy beans  (tau cheong ) ,
chilli paste - depends on how hot your tongue can take it :p
1/2 tbsp of chopped bird's eye chilli
1 tbsp of chopped parsley ,
1/2 cup of garlic paste ,
1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar ,
1 tbsp of caster sugar.

2.5 cups of water.
1 tbsp of corn starch - mix with  3 tbsp of water,
1 egg - beaten for thickening the sauce.

2 tbsp of cooking oil  * I used grapeseed oil

Mix all the ingredients together except water, cornstarch and egg . Heat oil in wok and saute the combined sauce till  fragrant.  Add in the prepared crabs and stir fry the crabs till covered in the paste , add in water and simmered till the crabs are cooked, add in thickening and the beaten egg. Add salt to taste if necessary.

Dish up and keep aside to cool.

Wrap the sweet sour crabs with 2 layers of parchment and  1 layer of aluminium foil- first layer is parchment paper, second layer - aluminium foil then the last layer - parchment paper....the aluminium foil is to make sure that if there is a leakage from the first layer, the gravy will not  seep through to the bread and make it soggy , and the last layer of parchment is to prevent the bread from sticking to the aluminium foil .  Wrap the sweet sour crab parcel  ( the opening facing top ) with the prepared artisan bread dough which can be prepared a day earlier.    Take the dough out from the fridge 1/2 hour before wrapping .

The dough recipe :- adapted from my newly acquired book - 

                             Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day by Jeff Hertzberg,M.D and Zoe Francois

3 cups lukewarm water - temp about 100 F

1  1/2 tabsp  granulated yeast

1 1/2 tabsp kosher or other coarse salt * I used table salt

6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all purpose white flour, measured with the scoop and sweep method

Cornmeal for dusting

Method :- 

Add salt and yeast to the warm water. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a resealable lidded plastic food container , pour in the warm water mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a wet dough. Don't knead. It is not necessary. You are finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches.  You will yield  a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.  Cover with a lid ( not airtight) that fits well to the container your are using.  Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse. approximately  2 hours. You can use any portion of the dough any time after this period.  Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days.  Maturation continues over 14 days . 

I make one recipe and it lasted me for more than a week. Each time, I want to bake bread, I just take out from the fridge , one grapefruit size dough ...that will take just 5 mins lol that is why this bread book is named Artisan bread in 5 mins a day. Wonderful book and I can have bread anytime of the day :))

 I put in the crabs first and the gravy last

so that the parchment wont get soft and tear :p 

I poured in the chilled gravy last and quickly

wrapped it up with the opening facing up

not easy to get the job done but with some patience

 I managed to get it done.....;p

it looks kind of a huge soccer ball ...LOL!

and luckily it fits in nicely in my oven.... :)

love the artisan look...crispy crust and soft interior

I dusted it with cornmeal flour and

whoa look how crispy the crust is

the trick is to spray mist of water on the surface 

of the bread as it is baking in the oven

 the fusion of  the two aromas...

the freshly baked bread and the crab scented

 sweet sour aroma...gosh ...it is heaven food !

love this so much ....dunking the fresh crispy bread on the 

gravy...mmmmm I don't mind making this again even

though it entailed a bit of work :)))

I am sure Piggy Jo had a wonderful meal and

looking forward to her next trip home :))

the parchment paper 

holds the gravy well until  the last drop was 

SLURPP out..... :0

The Piggy clan had a wonderful meal that evening

and Piggy Jo had a satisfying one

coz she cant find this in her Uni town :p

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