Open crab and tomato wontons
By Geoff Scott
By Geoff Scott
Recipe from www.bite.co.nz
The flavour of freshly cooked crab meat is sweet, moist and delicious. The sense of satisfaction and look on your guests’ faces when they taste these wontons makes it well and truly worth the effort! They are great to serve as pre-dinner nibbles or as a starter.
New Zealand paddle crabs are available at fish markets throughout the year. When buying them, pick up the crabs, they should feel heavy and smell neutral, not strong at all or of ammonia. To cook, put on a pot of water to boil with 1 tsp of salt, a little sliced onion and celery. Cook the crabs for 4 minutes, plunge them into iced water for one minute, then reserve on paper towels.
To remove the crab meat, pull off the legs, crack the two main pincers open with kitchen scissors and prise out the flesh with a toothpick. Pull the top shell from the body, wash the interior guts away, remove the gills, then break the body in half. The body is made up of several small cavities where the flesh sits; use a toothpick to prise the flesh out. Continue to break the body into smaller pieces to get at the flesh. Leftover legs and body can be made into a delicious soup or broth.
If you don’t have time for cooking and picking crab meat, look for pasteurised crab meat at your supermarket or deli.