bu ja (steamed crab)

Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 07:56:09 -0500 From: The Meades (by way of This is traditionally made from whole fresh crabs. The fresh (read that as alive) crabs are killed by dropping them in boiling water, then the shells are split, and the meat extracted for the recipe. However, you can simply buy crab meat and if you don't have crab shells, you could easily use ramekin dishes (though the shells are nice and showy for party food).

The food should be steamed in a bamboo steamer to avoid condensation dripping onto the cooking food. Alternatively if you use a metal steamer cover the food with a paper towel which is not in contact with the food, or simply steam the crab in a microwave on medium or low heat. If you use a microwave, let the dish stand for one minute after each three minutes cooking, and check for "doneness" by probing it with a fork.

If you prefer to omit the pork, use extra crabmeat, or chopped shrimp, instead.

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, and then spoon a quarter of the mixture into each of four crab shells or ramekin dishes, and steam for about 15 minutes until cooked.

Garnish with slivered red and green chillies and coriander leaves. Colonel Ian F. Khuntilanont-Philpott Systems Engineering, Vongchavalitkul University, Korat 30000, Thailand CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V2 #252 From the Chile-Heads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, .