Chinese cuisine

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Steamed Crab Rice on Lotus Leaf | Chef John’s Cooking Class

Chef John Zhang

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Steamed Crab Rice on Lotus Leaf | Chef John’s Cooking Class

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Lotus-steamed crab rice is the epitome of Chaozhou cuisine, pairing juicy crab meat with the airy fragrance of lotus leaf. But the real star of this dish is the rice, which, after having absorbed the flavors of both the crab and the lotus leaf, becomes exceptionally delicious.

Recipe

PRE TIME: 15 min

COOKING TIME: 20 min

TOTAL TIME: 35 min

2 SERVING

Ingredients:

2 count Dungeness crab, cooked
1 piece Lotus leaf
12 oz Brown rice, cooked
1 oz Ham, finely diced
5 large Eggs
0.25 cup Corn kernels
0.33 cup Shiitake mushroom, softened and diced
2 tbsp [Marinade] Garlic, minced
1 tbsp [Marinade] Green onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp [Marinade] Small red chilies, finely chopped
0.5 tsp [Marinade] Salt
1 tbsp [Marinade] Rice wine
1 tbsp [Marinade] Slurry (water and starch 1:1 ratio)
0.5 tbsp [Sauce] Oyster sauce
1 tbsp [Sauce] Soy sauce
0.5 tsp [Sauce] Sugar, to taste
2 tbsp [Sauce] Green onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp [Sauce] Rice wine
0.25 tsp [Sauce] Salt, to taste
0.25 tsp [Sauce] Black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Step 1

Remove the crab meat from one cooked Dungeness crab.

Step 2

cut the other crab into pieces, keep the top shell in one piece(do not cut it up); rearrange the crab pieces back into a crab shape belly side down in a flat dish.

Step 3

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl; pour the sauce over the cut crab pieces; then cover the crab pieces with the top shell.

Step 4

Prepare the fried rice: scramble eggs first, when it’s done add ham and mix well, then add corn kernel, shiitake mushroom, crab meat, brown rice, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, salt and pepper, and stir-fry until fully mixed. Finally add in chopped green onion and continually stir-fry for about 1 minute.

Step 5

Place fried rice in a steamer layered with a lotus leaf. Top the rice with the cut crab. Fold in the lotus leaf edge on top of the fried rice.

Step 5-1

Steam for 10 minutes.

Step 6

Remove the crab top shell, sprinkle with finely chopped green onion, and drizzle hot cooking oil over the rice.

Step 7

Place back the top shell and serve immediately.

Final Notes

Lotus leaves have a distinct aroma that they give a dish. After being heated at high temperatures, they won’t just lend their aroma to the other ingredients, but also cut some of the excess fattiness as well. Because of this, lotus leaf is commonly used in Chinese cooking to wrap things during steaming or baking. You may have heard of lotus leaf rice and lotus leaf chicken as some examples.