Stir Fried Blue Crab in Yellow Curry
This blue crab with yellow curry or ‘poo pad pong karee’ takes us right back to the beach in Koh Samui where a restaurant we frequented served the best ‘poo pad pong karee’.
If you love seafood, this mild yellow curry should be on your list! We are featuring crab as the main ingredients for authenticity, but you can choose to cook a mix of seafood. Curry powder, as well as eggs to thicken the sauce, and celery are the main ingredients used besides the crab to create this dish. The taste is completely different to traditional curries made with curry paste and still served with rice.
Whole crab vs crab meat
In Thailand, this recipe is typically made with whole crab served in their shell. Some restaurants choose to serve only the crab meat since some people don’t want to ‘work’ while eating, and deshelling crab is a time-consuming affair. Besides, once deshelled, the crab meat absorbs more flavour, and all the food stays warm while eating.
Blue crab
Blue crab is found in the Andaman sea as well as in the Gulf of Thailand. This well known product is used in many dishes and appreciated because of its sweet and delicate flavour. The taste is best when it’s cooked with only a few ingredients which we do in this yellow curry.
Stir Fried Blue Crab with Yellow Curry
EQUIPMENT (click pictures for details)
Ingredients
- 2 pcs blue crabs
- 2 pcs red Thai birds eye chillies
- 1-2 pcs garlic cloves
- ½ pc red or yellow onion
For the sauce
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2-3 tsp Indian curry powder
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 ½ tsp Thai roasted chilli paste
- 150 ml coconut water
- 2 pcs eggs
For the garnish
- 3-4 pcs spring onions
- 2-3 pcs Chinese celery
- ½ tbsp Thai chilli oil
Instructions
Prepare the crab
- Wash the crab under cold running water.Remove and discard the abdominal segment and remove the carapace.
- Use scissors to cut off the gills and the outer part of the legs.
- Break the body in half and cut each half into four parts.
- Cut the claws into two and crush the shell with the back of the knife.
- Quickly stir fry the crab over a high heat for a minute.Pour over a ladle of water or vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
- Put a lid on top then simmer for 4 minutes.Keep on the side.
Prepare the vegetables
- Crush the garlic cloves and the seedless red Thai chillies.Slice the onions coarsely.Cut the spring onions and Chinese celery into 3 cm sticks.
Cook the curry
- Sauté the garlic and chilli for a minute, then add the onions and continue sautéing for 3 minutes.
- Combine all ingredients for the sauce and stir well before adding it to the garlic and onion mix.
- Add the cooked crab pieces and cook together until the eggs are cooked and the sauce starts to thicken.
Finish the crab curry
- Mix in the spring onion, Chinese celery and the chilli oil and cook for about two minutes.If the sauce is too runny, add a little corn starch. (optional)
- Season to taste with a good pinch of ground white pepper.Serve the crab curry with steamed rice.
Notes
- Thai roasted chilli paste and oil are the same ingredients used for ‘tom yum’ soup.
- Coconut water is used in this recipe, but milk or condensed milk can be used.
- If the sauce is too cloggy add a spoon of coconut cream.