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The first time I ate kani koura-age and experienced love at first bite was when I was taken to an izakaya for a business dinner. Izakaya is a Japanese style pub where people gather to drink and enjoy one-plate, tapas style dishes. Since I do not consume alcohol, I truly enjoy the variety of small dishes served.
Kani koura-age is fried, stuffed crab shell. Its stuffing, usually being the obvious crab meat, is mixed with sautéed onion and Japanese vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, mitsuba (Japanese parsley), nagaimo yam, seasoned with a smidgen each of mirin, soy-sauce, salt and pepper. However, I have added a little twist to it, by using vegetables readily available at our local markets, and seasoned with a small amount of thick, creamy, white sauce. Carrots and edamame are added for color!
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Fried, Stuffed Crab Shell • Kani Koura-age • カニ甲羅揚げ
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
For the stuffing
Recommend one crab per person (450~680 gr/1~1.5 lbs)
• 2 crabs = 3 lbs Dungeness or smaller crabs available at your market – buy cooked, cleaned & cracked (but save the main shell) or see here for how to
• 70 g onion, diced small
• 35 g/ 3 small shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and diced small
• 35 g frozen edamame beans, blanched, inner skin also removed
• 35 g carrot, diced small and blanched
• 1/8 ~ 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/16 ~ 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
For the white sauce
• 28 g/ 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 16 g/ 2 Tbsp unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 120 ml/ ½ cup whole milk
For frying (see the ‘Note‘ at the end)
• ½ egg
• 3 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• panko /Japanese white breadcrumbs for coating
• vegetable oil
DIRECTIONS
◊ Scrape off any membranes/particles from inside the main crab shells and thoroughly wash inside and outside. Microwave the shells for for 1 minute ( no more) to dry .
◊ For the stuffing: In a fry pan, heat oil and add onion. Stir until the edges start browning. Add shiitake and stir for 1 more minute. Add edamame, carrot, salt, pepper, and crab meat. Stir for 1 minute and turn off the heat.
◊ For the white sauce: In a small, non-stick saucepan, on medium-high heat, melt the butter. As soon as it starts boiling, add the flour and constantly stir with silicone spatula as it boils. Fry the flour until it starts changing color. Add milk and vigorously stir until white sauce is smooth.
◊ Add white sauce to filling and combine well. Fill crab shells tightly with the stuffing.
◊ Beat egg with 1 Tbsp of flour. Flour dust tops of stuffed crabs. Rub egg mixture all over tops of stuffed crabs and cover with panko.
◊ In a deep pot, big enough for both crabs, pour oil about 3cm/ 1.5″ deep. Heat on medium-high. When oil is around 175°C / 350°F (test – drop in a piece of panko and see how fast it sizzles and quickly floats… it should, right away), shake off any excess panko and place both crabs in the oil, shell side down. Inside is already cooked, it is being deep fried for golden crispness of the breadcrumbs only. If necessary, spoon hot oil over breadcrumbs to fry faster. Deep fry only until golden. When golden brown, as seen in the photos, remove from oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towel to drain.
◊ Plate with colorful vegetables and or a salad. They also go well with piping hot Japanese rice.
♦ Note: This stuffing recipe may be used to fill ramekins instead of crab shell and baked
‘au gratin‘ style: Mix well ¾ cup panko/breadcrumbs with 2 Tbsp melted butter. Add 4 Tbsp grated Gruyère cheese and mix. When ready to serve, place filled ramekins in 200°C/400°F preheated oven and bake for 5~10 minutes, until the content is hot and remove from oven. Increase oven heat to broil. Cover ramekin tops with breadcrumb mixture, and and place them back in oven and let the top brown to a crispy, golden brown, about 2~3 minutes (be careful not to burn).
~ どうぞめしあがれ • Douzo Meshiagare ~
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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I love crab so much! And this give me an idea! This is really an amazing idea! Thank you for sharing this! I will try this! I have some crab’s recipes if you want to check and try 🙂
Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. I did check out your crab recipes. I liked every one of them. I’m not much of a seafood person, but I do love shell fishes and crab especially. I also have a few more crab recipes for you to check out. 🙂
I really love crab Fae and your stuffed crab sounds very good and so different from any way I’ve had them before.
Leave t to the Japanese to come up with an interesting way of serving a dish. 😀 ))) It is unique in its own way when served. 🙂
OH MY! Why wasn’t this brought to my attention till now Fae? :)) This is just beautiful, look at all that work that went into it, and your presentation is gorgeous! I love that last picture where you’ve paired it with the salad, yummmmm~
Thank you, Loretta! It isn’t late yet. There are still crabs in the market. 😀 ))) It is a fun presentation in shell, but it is just as delectable in a ramekins with ‘au gratin’ crusts on the top. Yum!
This is awesome! Here in Quebec we have a special variety of crab, called “snow crab”. The period is around the end of March, when the snow is supposed to go away. Unfortunately, being Italian, I’m not so familiar at cooking crab, but definitely is among my favourites crustaceans. I agree with Suzanne, you are an artist Fae, not only for the recipe, but even for the way you present it!
Oh, Margherita, you are both kind. I think, the size and shape of ‘snow crab’ fits this dish better. The most reasonable and available crabs in our area is the Dungeness and that is what I used. If it wasn’t for my upbringing in Japan, my Persian ancestry would not touch crab either. 😉
Sounds wonderful, Fae. I’ve yet to be served crab in a way that I didn’t like and I’m sure to love this preparation. I watched the video and doubt that I would clean the crab myself. I’ll take the short cut and buy the shell already cleaned and ready to go. 😉
– I don’t blame you, John, 😀 ))) it is time consuming -not to mention messy- job. I used to boil them myself too, but now living in an apartment building, I spare my neighbors of the ‘aroma’ -not to mention- my screaming and trauma of placing the creatures in the hot water. 🙁
– Me too, I love crab dish in every form they come. This particular style of serving brought back a pleasant palate memory.
I’m not familiar with this dish–it looks wonderful the way you made it!
Thank you, Nancy. Isn’t it an interestingly yummy dish. 😀 )))
I love crab and am always looking for new ways to serve. Your pictures and recipe certainly have my mouth watering!
I’m glad you like it, Amanda. Certainly, if not in the crab shell itself, in a individual portion ramekin style is just as much enjoyable.
Fae , this looks fantastic and I have never seen a recipe like this before. Thank you for sharing it.
You are welcome, Gerlinde. Since it is the season, you may be able to find it in an Izakaya in your area. It is fun, at least once, to make this dish in the crab shell. 🙂
We don’t have any local crabs this year because they have some chemical that can harm humans. I miss my dungeons crab. I posted this recipe on my Facebook cooking page and people loved it .
The warning has been lifted a few weeks ago, dear Gerlinde! Good news… there are Dungeness crabs available at all the supermarkets now. 🙂
Fae, this sounds and looks fantastic! I have to make it for Stefano and Her Majesty! Thank you!
I know you are not much into seafood, but I am sure Stefano and Her Majesty will love it! 🙂
Fae this sounds and looks amazing, I can just taste tender crab and shiitake mushrooms in bechamel sauce! Thank you for this beautiful recipe.
You are kind, and thank you! 🙂 I’m wondering if this would be the taste your husband remembers from the crab-cakes her remembered. Crunchy outside and creamy fillings and tasty inside. Mmm Mmm 😀
Love your recipe and presentation Fae. I enjoy crab but never eat it this way – I would have to look around for the whole crab 🙂
This was an indulgence to create a dish which lives up to its name. 😀 ))) Deep fried breadcrumbs on the top are the factor to the deliciousness of this recipe. To make it simpler, ‘au gratin‘ style works, or the very popular form, in deep fried croquettes. 🙂
This looks like a more Westernlized Japanese dish, yet it is uniquely nice!
Yes, only the addition of a little white sauce. But it sure is a wonderful delight! 🙂
That looks really delicious Fae. I do love crab but only ever buy the jumbo lump already done for me. The presentation here is stunning with the crab stuffing in the shell. You really are an artist Fae.
In Japan, there are restaurants specializing in crab dishes only. There is one iconic one in Osaka, called Kani Doraku. The restaurants are quite pricey, but you leave with content, having had a crab feast! 😀 ))) These days, to get actual/authentic stuffed crab shells are rare. There are westernized into a gratin style. The best of this recipe is the deep fried crunchy breadcrumb crust in a bite with creamy filling of crab meats and vegetables.
Just beautiful and delicious, I feel I am home – please follow and like my new piano page, I appreciate it.
Thank you. 🙂