Recipes, re-invented from cooking shows
King Crab and Grits
Prep. Time:
Baking Time:
Total Time:
40 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
2 hours
Serves:
4 plates
Bryan created this dish for Tournament of Champions Season 7. Handed live Alaskan king crab, fresh water chestnut and a pressure cooker, he reached for his Mid-Atlantic roots and rebuilt shrimp and grits around the crab, using the leg meat as the luxury and the bodies and shells as the entire flavou...
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Ingredients
FOR THE CRAB:
1 live Alaskan king crab, about 6 lb / 2.7 kg (or 4 cooked legs plus 1.5 lb / 700 g shells and bodies — the shells are not optional)
2 tbsp / 30 ml neutral oil, for roasting the bodies
FOR THE CRAB BODY SAUCE:
Roasted crab bodies and shells, broken up, reserved from above
1 3/4 cups / 420 ml full-fat Coconut Cream, unsweetened (do not use light)
2 cups / 480 ml water or light shellfish stock
10 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, fresh or frozen, bruised
2 in / 50 g piece fresh ginger, sliced (no need to peel)
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tbsp / 15 g dried shrimp, rinsed
4 oz / 115 g applewood-smoked bacon, julienned fine, not diced
1 tbsp / 15 ml fish sauce
1 tbsp / 15 ml lime juice
6–8 fresh water chestnuts, about 150 g, peeled and minced to a brunoise (fresh only)
FOR THE CRAB FAT CARAMEL:
1/2 cup / 100 g granulated sugar
3 tbsp / 45 ml fish sauce
About 1/4 cup / 60 g crab fat (tomalley), scraped from the roasted bodies — top up with brown crab meat if the crab yields less
3 tbsp / 45 ml lime juice
1 tbsp / 8 g fresh ginger, grated
FOR THE WHIPPED MAPLE SORGHUM:
1/2 cup / 120 ml dark maple syrup, Grade A dark or Grade B
3 tbsp / 45 ml sorghum syrup (not sorghum flour)
Pinch of fine sea salt
2 tsp / 6 g modified tapioca starch (Ultra-Tex 3 or similar, cold-soluble)
FOR THE GRITS:
2 cups / 480 ml whole milk
1 1/2 cups / 360 ml water, plus more as needed
1 tsp / 6 g fine sea salt, to taste
3/4 cup / 130 g stone-ground white grits (not instant, not quick)
3 tbsp / 45 g unsalted butter, cold, whisked in at the end
TO FINISH:
4 large eggs, one per plate
1 tbsp / 15 g butter or oil, for the eggs
4 centre-cut crab leg sections, shell removed cleanly, meat intact
EQUIPMENT:
Pressure cooker or multicooker with a pressure function
High-speed stand mixer with a whisk attachment
Heavy stainless or copper saucepan for the dry caramel (avoid non-stick and dark interiors — you need to read the colour)
Fine-mesh chinois or conical strainer, plus a ladle for pressing
Heavy-bottomed saucepan and a whisk for the grits
Kitchen shears and a heavy knife for breaking down the crab
Small non-stick or well-seasoned pan for the eggs
Two spoons for quenelling the whip
Method
STEP 1: BREAK DOWN THE CRAB
Dispatch and break down the crab. Separate the legs and claws from the body. Reserve four handsome centre-cut leg sections whole for the garnish, then pick the remaining leg and claw meat into large pieces and refrigerate. Split the body, scrape out and reserve the crab fat (tomalley) for the caramel, and break the shells and bodies into rough pieces. Everything that is not meat is now the flavour base.
STEP 2: ROAST THE SHELLS
Toss the shells and bodies with the neutral oil and roast at 425°F / 220°C for 15 minutes, until deeply aromatic but no darker than a deep coral red. This is what makes the finished stock taste of crab rather than of shellfish generally; scorched shells turn the stock bitter.
STEP 3: PRESSURE-COOK THE CRAB STOCK
Put the roasted shells into the pressure cooker with the coconut milk, water, bruised makrut lime leaves, ginger, garlic and rinsed dried shrimp. Bring to full pressure and hold for 20 minutes — twenty minutes is the ceiling — then let the pressure fall naturally for 10 minutes before venting.
STEP 4: RENDER THE BACON
While the stock runs, render the julienned bacon slowly in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat until the fat is out and the strips are crisp at the edges but not brittle. Leave the bacon and its fat in the pan.
STEP 5: STRAIN AND FINISH THE SAUCE
Strain the pressure-cooked stock directly onto the bacon through a fine chinois, pressing hard on the solids. Simmer gently to reduce by roughly a third, until it coats a spoon lightly — a bare simmer only, or the coconut milk will split. Season with the fish sauce, then take the pan off the heat and add the lime juice. Off the heat and only now, stir in the water chestnut brunoise. Do not cook them; the crunch survives only if they never meet direct heat.
STEP 6: MAKE THE CRAB FAT CARAMEL
Melt the sugar dry in a heavy pan over medium heat, swirling rather than stirring, until it reaches a genuine dark amber — a shade past where you would stop for a dessert caramel, bitter enough to stand against fish sauce. Off the heat, add the fish sauce in one go, standing back; it will seize and spit. Return to low heat and stir patiently until the seized sugar redissolves, two or three minutes. Add the reserved crab fat and the lime juice and cook gently for 3–4 minutes, until glossy and just thick enough to ribbon. Off the heat, stir in the grated ginger. Keep warm, and loosen with a few drops of water if it sets past spooning consistency.
STEP 7: WHIP THE MAPLE SORGHUM
Combine the maple syrup, sorghum syrup and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the modified tapioca starch over the surface and let it hydrate for a full 2 minutes. Whip on high with the whisk attachment for 4–6 minutes, until it goes from syrup to a pale, visibly matte foam that holds a quenelle and does not weep. Refrigerate until needed.
STEP 8: COOK THE GRITS
Bring the milk and water to a bare simmer with the salt. Rain in the grits while whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook, stirring often, for 35–45 minutes, adding hot water a splash at a time as they tighten. Stone-ground grits need the full time; there is no shortcut. Whisk in the cold butter off the heat and taste hard for salt. Hold covered and loosen with hot milk just before plating, because grits set fast.
STEP 9: WARM THE CRAB AND COOK THE EGGS
Warm the reserved picked crab meat gently in a spoonful of the sauce, off direct heat, for a few seconds only — king crab is sold cooked and is being brought to temperature, not cooked again. Warm the four centre-cut leg sections the same way and keep them whole. Fry or gently poach the eggs in the butter or oil so the whites are just set and the yolks entirely liquid.
STEP 10: PLATE
Spoon the loosened grits into the centre of each warm plate. Ladle the sauce with its water chestnuts around, not over, so the crunch stays visible. Fold the picked crab meat into the grits or scatter it at the border. Set an egg dead centre on top of the grits. Streak or dot the crab fat caramel around, add a quenelle of the whipped maple sorghum to one side, and lay a centre-cut crab leg across the top. Serve immediately.
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Instructions
FOR THE CRAB:
1 live Alaskan king crab, about 6 lb / 2.7 kg (or 4 cooked legs plus 1.5 lb / 700 g shells and bodies — the shells are not optional)
2 tbsp / 30 ml neutral oil, for roasting the bodies
FOR THE CRAB BODY SAUCE:
Roasted crab bodies and shells, broken up, reserved from above
1 3/4 cups / 420 ml full-fat coconut milk, unsweetened (do not use light)
2 cups / 480 ml water or light shellfish stock
10 makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, fresh or frozen, bruised
2 in / 50 g piece fresh ginger, sliced (no need to peel)
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tbsp / 15 g dried shrimp, rinsed
4 oz / 115 g applewood-smoked bacon, julienned fine, not diced
1 tbsp / 15 ml fish sauce
1 tbsp / 15 ml lime juice
6–8 fresh water chestnuts, about 150 g, peeled and minced to a brunoise (fresh only)
FOR THE CRAB FAT CARAMEL:
1/2 cup / 100 g granulated sugar
3 tbsp / 45 ml fish sauce
About 1/4 cup / 60 g crab fat (tomalley), scraped from the roasted bodies — top up with brown crab meat if the crab yields less
3 tbsp / 45 ml lime juice
1 tbsp / 8 g fresh ginger, grated
FOR THE WHIPPED MAPLE SORGHUM:
1/2 cup / 120 ml dark maple syrup, Grade A dark or Grade B
3 tbsp / 45 ml sorghum syrup (not sorghum flour)
Pinch of fine sea salt
2 tsp / 6 g modified tapioca starch (Ultra-Tex 3 or similar, cold-soluble)
FOR THE GRITS:
2 cups / 480 ml whole milk
1 1/2 cups / 360 ml water, plus more as needed
1 tsp / 6 g fine sea salt, to taste
3/4 cup / 130 g stone-ground white grits (not instant, not quick)
3 tbsp / 45 g unsalted butter, cold, whisked in at the end
TO FINISH:
4 large eggs, one per plate
1 tbsp / 15 g butter or oil, for the eggs
4 centre-cut crab leg sections, shell removed cleanly, meat intact
EQUIPMENT:
Pressure cooker or multicooker with a pressure function
High-speed stand mixer with a whisk attachment
Heavy stainless or copper saucepan for the dry caramel (avoid non-stick and dark interiors — you need to read the colour)
Fine-mesh chinois or conical strainer, plus a ladle for pressing
Heavy-bottomed saucepan and a whisk for the grits
Kitchen shears and a heavy knife for breaking down the crab
Small non-stick or well-seasoned pan for the eggs
Digital probe thermometer
Two spoons for quenelling the whip
Heading 5
Ingredients
STEP 1: BREAK DOWN THE CRAB
Dispatch and break down the crab. Separate the legs and claws from the body. Reserve four handsome centre-cut leg sections whole for the garnish, then pick the remaining leg and claw meat into large pieces and refrigerate. Split the body, scrape out and reserve the crab fat (tomalley) for the caramel, and break the shells and bodies into rough pieces. Everything that is not meat is now the flavour base.
STEP 2: ROAST THE SHELLS
Toss the shells and bodies with the neutral oil and roast at 425°F / 220°C for 15 minutes, until deeply aromatic but no darker than a deep coral red. This is what makes the finished stock taste of crab rather than of shellfish generally; scorched shells turn the stock bitter.
STEP 3: PRESSURE-COOK THE CRAB STOCK
Put the roasted shells into the pressure cooker with the coconut milk, water, bruised makrut lime leaves, ginger, garlic and rinsed dried shrimp. Bring to full pressure and hold for 20 minutes — twenty minutes is the ceiling — then let the pressure fall naturally for 10 minutes before venting.
STEP 4: RENDER THE BACON
While the stock runs, render the julienned bacon slowly in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat until the fat is out and the strips are crisp at the edges but not brittle. Leave the bacon and its fat in the pan.
STEP 5: STRAIN AND FINISH THE SAUCE
Strain the pressure-cooked stock directly onto the bacon through a fine chinois, pressing hard on the solids. Simmer gently to reduce by roughly a third, until it coats a spoon lightly — a bare simmer only, or the coconut milk will split. Season with the fish sauce, then take the pan off the heat and add the lime juice. Off the heat and only now, stir in the water chestnut brunoise. Do not cook them; the crunch survives only if they never meet direct heat.
STEP 6: MAKE THE CRAB FAT CARAMEL
Melt the sugar dry in a heavy pan over medium heat, swirling rather than stirring, until it reaches a genuine dark amber — a shade past where you would stop for a dessert caramel, bitter enough to stand against fish sauce. Off the heat, add the fish sauce in one go, standing back; it will seize and spit. Return to low heat and stir patiently until the seized sugar redissolves, two or three minutes. Add the reserved crab fat and the lime juice and cook gently for 3–4 minutes, until glossy and just thick enough to ribbon. Off the heat, stir in the grated ginger. Keep warm, and loosen with a few drops of water if it sets past spooning consistency.
STEP 7: WHIP THE MAPLE SORGHUM
Combine the maple syrup, sorghum syrup and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the modified tapioca starch over the surface and let it hydrate for a full 2 minutes. Whip on high with the whisk attachment for 4–6 minutes, until it goes from syrup to a pale, visibly matte foam that holds a quenelle and does not weep. Refrigerate until needed.
STEP 8: COOK THE GRITS
Bring the milk and water to a bare simmer with the salt. Rain in the grits while whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook, stirring often, for 35–45 minutes, adding hot water a splash at a time as they tighten. Stone-ground grits need the full time; there is no shortcut. Whisk in the cold butter off the heat and taste hard for salt. Hold covered and loosen with hot milk just before plating, because grits set fast.
STEP 9: WARM THE CRAB AND COOK THE EGGS
Warm the reserved picked crab meat gently in a spoonful of the sauce, off direct heat, for a few seconds only — king crab is sold cooked and is being brought to temperature, not cooked again. Warm the four centre-cut leg sections the same way and keep them whole. Fry or gently poach the eggs in the butter or oil so the whites are just set and the yolks entirely liquid.
STEP 10: PLATE
Spoon the loosened grits into the centre of each warm plate. Ladle the sauce with its water chestnuts around, not over, so the crunch stays visible. Fold the picked crab meat into the grits or scatter it at the border. Set an egg dead centre on top of the grits. Streak or dot the crab fat caramel around, add a quenelle of the whipped maple sorghum to one side, and lay a centre-cut crab leg across the top. Serve immediately.
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