North African Crab Fried Rice

Have you ever made anything that left you speechless, in a good way? Trust me, our version of crab fried rice will definitely leave you that way. we cant stop making this ever since we came up with the recipe and it quickly becoming a weekly staple in our house and hopefully onto our catering menus for Blend Catering. Try it out, let us know what you think and share it with friends and family. This recipe should feed about 8 people, even though i finished just about half of it myself because i just could not stop eating it!

North African Crab Fried Rice

Dungeness crabs:

-          2 whole Dungeness crabs (ask your fishmonger to crack them for you!)

-          This should leave you with about 1 pound of fresh dungeness crab meat

-          I recmommen Dungeness for this recipe and if youre on the western half of the United States, you would probably agree. But, any crab variety really works here, so you choose!

-          Reserve the nicer, bigger pieces of crab for your zhug butter and the rest of the crabmeat will be used to mix into the fried rice

Rice:

-          3 cups jasmine rice, rinsed and drained until the water is clear

-          2 bay leaves

-          2 teaspoons salt

-          3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons water

1.      In a Zojirushi (or any rice cooker of your choice), add your rice, seasonings and water and cook your rice according to your rice cookers settings. Mine takes about 60 minutes for perfectly cooked, fluffy jasmine rice

2.      Once cooked, remove from the rice cooker and spread your rice out to cool to room temperature. I highly recommend doing this a day before you plan to make your fried rice.

3.      Once cool to the touch, add the rice to your fridge overnight, or for at least 2 hours before frying.

Zhug:

-          2 bunches cilantro

-          2 bunches cilantro

-          4 jalapeno, tops removed

-          4 serrano chilies, tops removed

-          2 shallots, peeled, quartered

-          12 cloves garlic

-          1 lemon zested and juiced

-          ½ cup rice vinegar

-          2 tablespoons preserved lemon paste

-          2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

-          1 tablespoon honey

-          2 teaspoons freshly toasted whole cumin seeds

-          2 teaspoons freshly toasted whole coriander seeds

-          ½ teaspoon ground cardamom

-          ½ teaspoon white pepper, ground

-          Salt to season

1.      In a blender, or food processor, add all of your ingredients and blend until smooth and emulsified.

2.      Reserve 1.5 tablespoons of your zhug for your zhug butter

3.      You will use at least 2 tablespoons of zhug for your fried rice but you will have extra, so use as much as you would like for how spicy you want your rice to be!

Zhug butter:

-          ¼ pound butter, cold, diced

-          1 cup water

-          Nicer reserved crab meat

-          Pinch of salt

-          Pinch of fresh lemon juice

-          Reserved 2 tablespoons zhug

1.      In a small sauce pot or saute pan, add your salt, water and butter and turn to medium high heat. Stir your pot or pan until the butter is emulsified and then add your reserved crab meat.

2.      Turn your heat to medium low and cook your crab just to warm through, then turn the heat off and add your lemon juice and zhug and stir it all in to combine and coat the crab meat in the zhug butter

Fried Rice:

-          2 tablespoons avocado oil

-          2 shallots, peeled, small diced

-          5 cloves garlic, sliced thin

-          2 eggs, whisked together

-          Cooked and cooled jasmine rice

-          Salt to taste

-          Reserved crab meat

-          ¼ pound butter, cold, diced

-          At least 2 tablespoons zhug

-          ½ bunch chives, sliced very thin (reserve some for garnish)

1.      In a large saute pan, or wok, add your avocado oil over high heat

2.      Add your shallots and garlic and saute with a pinch of salt until they both become light golden

3.      Add in your two whisked eggs and saute over the same heat until the eggs become softly scrambled

4.      Add in your rice and begin to break apart the rice and egg-shallot-garlic mixture until the grains of the rice are separated

5.      Still over high heat, add in your reserved crab meat and continue to saute your mixture

6.      Turn the heat to low, continue to stir and add in your butter, zhug and chives and a couple more pinches of salt

7.      Turn off the heat and plate up with a fresh lemon to juice, some crispy shallots and your reserved chives!

Garnish:

-          Sliced chives

-          Store bought crispy shallots

-          ½ lemon, seeds removed

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