Tag Archives: Darwin

Cooking Our Catch, Crustacean

Chilli Mud Crab

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We made this chilli crab while anchored off a small island in Indonesia called Lapan. We had been in Indonesian waters for three days, and had yet to find a village with a restaurant/Warung. Having a craving for something a little spicy we cooked up the last of our crabs (caught in Darwin) and enjoyed this chilli crab for lunch before we jumped in the very inviting water for a snorkel.

CHILLI MUD CRAB

This is is what I did…

To a small bowl I added and set aside;

2 Tbs of Hoisin sauce
½ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 Tbs Fish sauce
¼ cup water
¼ tsp sesame oil.

Dwayne, in the meantime, cleaned and cut the crab into segments, cracking the claws to allow the flavour to enter and infuse the crab. I heated a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pot (I was currently wok-less) and sautéed three finely chopped garlic cloves and two teaspoons of grated ginger for about thirty seconds, then I added the crab pieces and stir-fried for around 3-4 minutes.

CHILLI MUD CRAB

I added the sauce and tossed to cover all the crab, heating it until it was just beginning to boil, then I reduced the heat to simmer, and covered until cooked (around 7 minutes). I added some chilli flakes (would have used sliced chilli, and sauted with garlic and ginger if I had any) and served with steamed basmati rice. Note: I would have used sliced chilli, and sauted it with the garlic and ginger if I’d had any at the time.

CHILLI MUD CRAB

Cooking Our Catch, Crustacean, Salad

Crab Salad

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This is another little creation I made while anchored in Darwin Harbour. It was after I got back from my trip to Adelaide. While in Adelaide working my butt off, painting etc, Dwayne was in Darwin, fishing, crabbing and going to the races….. anyhow he caught a couple of crabs and knew better than to eat them while I was away.

Prepared mud crabs

I’ve been wanting a crab salad ever since we hit mud crab territory but had, as yet, had little luck. With the heat in Darwin during the ‘build-up’ making cooking unpleasant, I decided to use one of the cooked mud crabs for this simple salad.

Crab Salad

I used a food stack mould and layered it with a slice of honeydew and rockmelon, shredded lettuce and then a layer of crab and diced cucumber. I topped the salad with a dressing I made with lime juice, walnut oil, mirin, sweet chilli and sesame oil.

Crab Salad

Delicious and very refreshing in the humidity.

Like this idea? Share with friends and family or pin using the image below, thank you!

Crab Salad with #melon #lettuce #cucumber #sesameoil #mirin #sweetchilli

Cooking Our Catch, Crustacean, Risotto

Spicy Crayfish Risotto

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I made this risotto while we were anchored in Darwin Harbour awaiting our visa and paperwork to set sail for Indonesia. The crayfish was caught on our way to Darwin as we cruised the Great Barrier Reef.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO made with a crayfish caught on the Great Barrier Reef

I have never made a risotto before, so I googled to get some ideas. In the end I combined some of my favourite flavours to make the risotto I had envisioned. Yay!

Ingredients for my crayfish risotto, chorizo, garlic, chilli, mushroom

This is what I did… I melted butter in a large pan and sautéed finely chopped onion and garlic, diced chorizo and sliced chilli until the onion had softened.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO

Next I added the rice and cooked it for approximately four minutes “toasting it”. This step apparently determines the final texture of the risotto. It heats the outside of the rice quickly thus preventing it from breaking and seals in the starch.

I then added a cup of white wine. On medium heat I cooked it until all the liqud was nearly absorbed. I then began the task of adding 1/4 of a cup of hot fish stock at a time, waiting for each to be absorbed before adding more, all the while stirring. When the rice was nearly done (a taste test will tell you) I added sliced mushroom, heaps of tarragon and the lobster.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO made with tarragon, chorizo, mushroom, chilli, garlic and crayfish
Spicy Crayfish Risotto

Was so good!