Crab Meat with Green Cabbage

Taiwan enjoys a rich harvest of crabs from the end of autumn to the following spring. Since crab quickly spoils, buyers should know how to recognize a fresh crab from its white and solid underparts and legs which do not detach easily. As well as boiling whole with the shell, crabs can be prepared by removing the flesh to make into all kinds of delicacies. Method of this month's dish is as follows:

1. Wash clean a large crab and steam over high heat for 20 minutes. Remove crab meat and roe and dice small.

2. Cut 20 cabbages into pieces each about 3 inches long. Boil about 1 minute over high heat, remove, soak in cold water, then drain.

3. Heat 3 T. oil in frying pan. Stir fry 1 T. chopped ginger and green onion each for a while, add crab meat, and sprinkle with 1 T. wine and 11/2 C. soup stock or hot water. Add 1 t. salt and pepper each, and 11/2 T. cornstarch paste. Boil until thickened.

4. Lower heat. Pour out 1 scrambled egg white slowly into the pan. Add chopped crab roe and 1 T. of boiled oil. Stir until blended.

5. Place half of the mixture to a small bowl, then place the already fried cabbage in the pan. Blend evenly and remove to a large plate. Pour the crab mixture in the small bowl back to the platter and serve.

Note: Cauliflower, green asparagus, Chinese broccoli, bean curd, and all kinds of mushrooms can be used to replace green cabbage in this dish.

Fu Pei-Mei