Rosheen Kaul’s crab noodle soup
Not every broth needs hours on the stove, and this crab noodle soup is as weeknight-friendly as it is flavour-packed. The boost of flavour comes from the richness of almost browned butter and deeply caramelised ginger, with added warmth from the rice wine.
Mud crab is ideal for this dish, as the rice wine does wonders for enhancing the sweetness of the meat, but flower crab and blue swimmers both work well.
The recipe calls for Shaoxing wine, but brandy works too if you happen to have some on hand. The alcohol is cooked out as it simmers leaving only a lovely aroma, so there’s no need to worry about this broth being too boozy.
Ingredients
80g unsalted butter
4cm ginger, skin-on and sliced thinly
2 stalks spring onion, cut into 4cm lengths
1kg raw crab, cut into pieces
¼ cup Shaoxing rice wine
4 cups chicken stock
½ cup evaporated milk
1 tbsp Chinese chicken bouillon powder
½ tbsp fish sauce
300g fresh thick rice noodles or 150g dried thick rice vermicelli
⅛ tsp white pepper powder
Method
Step 1
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan until starting to brown, then add the ginger slices and saute until deeply caramelised. Add the spring onion and fry briefly, until just aromatic.
Step 2
Add the crab and fry over high heat, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Add the Shaoxing wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock and evaporated milk, bring to the boil and simmer until the crab is fully cooked. Season with bouillon powder and fish sauce, then taste and adjust if necessary.
Step 3
Cook the noodles according to packet instructions, strain and rinse quickly in cold water then divide into bowls. Bring the soup to the boil, then ladle the broth into the bowls, divide the crab and finish with a few dashes of white pepper. Serve immediately.
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Rosheen Kaul is head chef of Melbourne's Etta restaurant, author of cookbook, Chinese-ish, and Good Food recipe columnist.
