Steamed Crab over Glutinous Rice 籠仔蒸蟹飯
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This traditional Cantonese style Steamed Crab over Glutinous (Sticky) Rice 籠仔蒸蟹飯 is a seafood lover’s paradise
We are officially in the home stretch now before the Luna New Year Starts on this Sat, January 28th and I’ve got a very special and authentic recipe for you to use.
But first, let’s talk a little bit more about Chinese New Year (aka CNY).
While the Chinese New Year Eve feast is undeniably the main attraction for many, the celebration typically extends to the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the Lunar New Year (Feb 11th).
So basic you still have plenty of time and reason to master a few authentic Chinese recipes.
What’s better? I’ve got a whole book just on Chinese New Year (CNY) recipes and it’s competently FREE of charge!
So if you haven’t done so, make sure you grab a copy the FREE Chinese New Year Cookbook now to get more inspirations.
And if you are looking to celebrate Chinese New Year in a more traditional way, here’s an awesome article from Chinahighlights on what else people do during CNY
Now let’s talk about today’s Steamed Crab over Glutinous Rice dish or 籠仔蒸蟹飯 in Chinese
For all you Cantonese food lovers, this dish is as Cantonese as you can get because it encompasses all the hallmarks of Cantonese cooking :
- Live seafood? Check.
- Lightly flavored? Check.
- Good for sharing? Check.
- Simple to prepare? Check (only if you read the rest of the recipe).
The point is that this is a traditional dish you’ll only find in your authentic Cantonese restaurants but not the Shanghainese restaurant down the block.In fact, the first time I had this dish was at a Cantonese joint here in NYC.
Still remember how bewildered I was when this steamer-full of crab heaven steamed over rice and lotus leaves landed on our table. As I sank my teeth into that sweet tender crab meat, it was probably the freshest crab I had ever had! And the rice underneath the crab is always the best part. The rice soaked up all the crab juice and crab butter and the aroma of lotus leaves. It was just absolutely delicious!
Anyway, if you wanted to prepare crab for this Chinese New Year, this steamed crab dish will fit the bill perfectly!
YouTube Video
Please also check out the video recipe on YouTube. Please take a minute to subscribe to my video channel if you enjoy this video. You can also play the video right here:
Import Notes on the recipe
This recipe is not super hard to make per se but it does require a few items that are harder to come by.
- First of all, a larger bamboo steamer is used to cook the food traditional. If you don’t have one, make sure your steamer is large enough to hold a big crab and rice.
- Commonly. lotus leaves are used to line the steamer. They not only add refreshing aroma to the food but also prevent the rice from sticking to the steamer. Unfortunately, the day I was making this dish, I couldn’t find lotus leaves in my nearby Chinese grocery stores, so I decided to use bamboo leaves instead. If you can score some dried lotus leaves, use them for sure.
- In this recipe, I use live dungeness crab as that’s the kind of crab commonly used here. If other saltwater crab is available in your area, you are free to use instead. If you absolutely can’t find live crab, you can substitute with uncooked frozen crab but the flavor will be compromised a little bit.
- Lastly, if you do manage to get a live crab, be sure to clean and process per the recipe. It’s a little daunting but it should be manageable with my step-by-step instruction on how to process a live crab.
Step-by-step recipe
Cantonese Steamed Crab over Glutinous Rice
Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 60 mins
Total Time: 90 mins
Ingredients:
- 2lb - 2.5lb live Dungeness Crab or other saltwater crab available to you
- 3 cups glutinous rice (aka sticky rice)
- 6-8 bamboo leaves (use 1-2 lotus leaves if available)
Dipping Sauce:
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Directions:
Prepare the lotus leaves. I couldn't find lotus leaves while I was preparing this dish so I used bamboo leaves instead. First, soak the bamboo leaves in a baking tray with cold water until leaves are flexible to bend (about 30 minutes).
Boil a pot of water in the largest pot you have. Transferred the leaves to the pot and soak/cook until the leaves a completely hy-drated and soft. About 30 minutes. Transfer the leaves out and set aside.
Rinse the soaked glutinous rice several times in cold water. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add 1tbsp of cooking oil and mix well. Steam the rice for 30 minutes.
Leave the live crab in the fridge overnight or freezer for 10 minutes to it's sedated. While the rice the steaming, clean the live crab with a brush under running cold water.
Follow this instruction to open and clean the crab internally. And chop the leg section of the crab into 4-6 pieces. Keep the crab shell whole and make sure you keep the crab butter.
To make the dipping sauce, heat up 3tbsp of oil. Add chopped scallion in a heat-proof bowl and splash the hot oil on the scallion. Add sugar and soy sauce. Mix well by stirring.
Once the glutinous rice is done steaming. Let it cool to touch.
Cover a large bamboo steamer with lotus leaves (or bamboo leaves in my case). Make sure the entire steamer is covered.
Transfer the glutinous rice to the steamer and carefully spread the rice evenly.
Place the chopped crab on top of the rice. Try to arrange it nicely.
Steam over high heat for 14-16 minutes depending on the size of your crab.
Turn off the heat and serve the crab and rice from the steamer and with the dipping sauce on the side.
- A larger bamboo steamer is used to cook the food traditional. If you don't have one, make sure your steamer is large enough to hold a big crab and rice.
- Commonly. lotus leaves are used to line the steamer. They not only add refreshing aroma to the food but also prevent the rice from sticking to the steamer. Unfortunately, the day I was making this dish, I couldn't find lotus leaves in my nearby Chinese grocery stores, so I decided to use bamboo leaves instead. If you can score some dried lotus leaves, use them for sure.
- In this recipe, I use live dungeness crab as that's the kind of crab commonly used here. If other saltwater crab is available in your area, you are free to use instead. If you absolutely can't find live crab, you can substitute with uncooked frozen crab but the flavor will be compromised a little bit.
- Lastly, if you do manage to get a live crab, be sure to clean and process per the recipe. It's a little daunting but it should be manageable with my step-by-step instruction on how to process a live crab.
Are you planning on cooking for Lunar New Year? Share your plan with me in the comment area!
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Hi Yi! I see that you haven’t updated your blog in a while, but just so you know there are people who still reference your site and love your recipes! Just made this one again and love it just as much as always. I have 2 young daughters now and they like it too! Hope you’re doing well and eating delicious food!
I am a regular sport crabber and am always looking for new recipes to use on my catch. I am happy to say that this recipe worked beautifully. I was able fit two crabs in my steamer, but they were only slightly over 6″ across, not the monsters you can sometimes find at the seafood market. Thanks, Yi!
hi Sarah, thanks for the feedback and I am glad that you tried out the recipe. So jealous that you can catch crab regularly. What kind of crab do you normally catch?
Haha completely forgot to respond to your comment, then saw it again when referencing the recipe so I can make it again tonight!
So, two years later, I will answer your question. Ive made this recipe several times now with red rock crab. The meat is sweeter in these crabs but you can’t stir fry them because the shells are so thick and also they are a bit on the small side. Steaming them is the perfect solution!
That said, tonight I am going to use dungeness because I have them, and we had stir fried crab last night.
Thanks again for the recipe!
Hi Sarah, thanks for the feedback. Hope you enjoyed the dungeness crab too.
Hi Yi, happy chinese new year! always looking at your beautiful and inspiring blog with pleasure. Greetings from Venice.
Hi Anna, thanks for the kind words. Happy lunar new year to you as well!
I remember when I was in Taiwan… THEY WERE OBSESSED with Glutinous rice!
Thanks Gigi. Yes glutinous rice is pretty big in Asian cooking 🙂
Yum! We had so many crabs lately, but I have never had it with sticky rice…which I love…thanks for the recipe Yi…
Hope you are enjoying your week 🙂
Thanks Juliana. Have a great weekend!
If you only knew how much I LOVE crab!! You wouldn’t be teasing me like this. 🙂 Awesome dish!
Thanks! This dish is definitely a Crab heaven for crab lovers 🙂
Love crab — any variety. This looks like a great way to eat it. Well, until softshells are in season. 🙂 Really nice — thanks.
Thanks John. I also adore softshell crabs and can’t wait until the season starts again!