Ginger and spring onion mud crab with glass noodles
Mid-Autumn mud crab fried with plenty of ginger and spring onion, then simmered with glass noodles that soak up every drop of the sweet, savoury juices.
- 40 min
- Serves 2
- Braise
- Medium
Why it suits you: Blood-stasis types have sluggish circulation and a dull complexion and are prone to bruising or period pain, and Bailu's cooler mornings make the blood more sluggish still. Crab disperses stagnant blood and frees the channels, while plenty of ginger, spring onion and Shaoxing wine warm the vessels and temper its coldness. Served piping hot, it moves the blood without upsetting the stomach.
Method
Prep 25 min · Cook 15 min- 1Ask the fishmonger to clean and chop the crab; crack the claws and dust the pieces with cornflour. Soak the glass noodles until soft and snip shorter.
- 2Heat the oil and fry plenty of ginger slices and the garlic until fragrant. Add the crab and fry until red on both sides, then splash in the wine.
- 3Add the water, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar and bring to the boil. Push the crab to one side, press the noodles into the liquid, cover and cook over a medium heat for 6 minutes.
- 4Add the spring onions cut into lengths, cover for 1 more minute, then toss until the noodles have soaked up the sauce and eat hot.
Cautions
- Crab is cold, so go easy if your digestion is weak, and take care in pregnancy; avoid it with a seafood allergy, gout or high cholesterol. Cook crab the day you buy it.
Chef's tips
- Have the crab killed and chopped at the market and cook it straight away; dusting the pieces with cornflour seals in the juices, and add the noodles late so they don't turn mushy.
The TCM view
Crab is salty and cold, entering the liver and stomach, clearing heat and dispersing stagnant blood — the Mingyi Bielu says it 'resolves knots and disperses blood'. Ginger is pungent and warm, warming the middle and countering crab's toxicity; spring onion frees the yang and moves blood; Shaoxing wine warms and frees the vessels; glass noodles settle the middle.
