Poo Pad Pong Karee (ปูผัดผงกะหรี่ - Curried Crab Claws)

This is a mild curried dish, usually served as a counterpoint to a more intense curry or garlic dish. It can be prepared with crab claws, or with a cup of crab meat, or a mixture of crab meat and shrimp. Since it is often eaten with chop sticks, you might consider removing the meat from the claws, as this makes it easier for the spice flavors to penetrate and easier to eat the food.

Ingredients.

1 cup of crab meat
1 tablespoon of garlic, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons of fish stock, or you may use chicken stock
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
a pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of shallots, sliced thinly
2 spring onions (scallions/green onions), sliced thinly
1 tablespoon of julienned green or red bell pepper

Method

Heat some oil in a wok, and stir fry the garlic and onions. Add the fish stock, soy sauce and fish sauce, and stir fry the crab until nearly cooked, then add the remaining ingredients.

Line a serving dish with lettuce and pour the crab over it, garnish with corinader leaves, lime leaves, and slices of cucumber.

If using crab claws, then steam the crab claws, and combine the remaining ingredients separately, and reduce them to form a dipping sauce.

This dish is of course served with the usual Thai table condiments, and you may prefer to particularly add a spoonful of prik dong (red chilis in vinegar) to it.

As always with this type of tropical seafood dish, you can serve it hot, at room temperature, or chilled.