Crab Fondue

**Updated on 3/29/2013** Found the below post ready to go, but for some reason, I hadn't posted it when I wrote it up before. Maybe I was waiting on attaching a picture, but since this is now a few years since, it may be hard for me to find it. 

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This post is long overdue, but here's the recipe we followed for the crab fondue several weeks ago. It was creamy, delicious, and though the cheese portion would have been fine on its own, the crab meat really added that something extra.

Ingredients:
6 oz cream cheese
10 oz brie cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard (yellow or Dijon)
2 tbsps powdered sugar (or 1 tbsp corn starch)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsps Old Bay seasoning (or paprika with a little ground ginger and cayenne)
1/4 - 1/2 cup dry white wine or dry sherry (optional)
1-2 tsps lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3/4 - 1 lb lump crab meat, fresh or canned
1/4 cup chopped green onions, chives, or parsley
Day old French or Italian loaf bread, cubed

Method:
1. Slowly heat the cream cheese, mayo, powdered sugar, garlic powder, Old Bay, lemon zest, and mustard in a double boiler until the cheese is completely melted. (If you don't have a double boiler, fill a saucepan a third of the way with water and bring to a boil, place a metal bowl over the saucepan. This will work as a double boiler.)
2. Slowly stir in the wine and lemon juice (adjust quantities to taste and desired consistency). Slowly stir in the crab meat and onion greens.
To serve, transfer to a heated chafing dish or fondue pot to keep warm. Present with bread cubes and forks for dipping.
Serves 8.

Garlic Noodles with Roasted Crab

Never again! Never again will I pay an exorbitant amount of money at a restaurant to have delicious garlic noodles and roasted crab. What inspired me to find this recipe in the first place is because of all the rave reviews I'd read of the infamous garlic noodles and roasted crab from Thanh Long in SF. I googled that and stumbled upon this recipe. What was difficult about the recipe the first time I attempted it wasn't the recipe itself - it was the crab killing part. Dear lord, what a traumatic experience! I reviewed this tutorial on YouTube and thought I had it covered, but... yeah. Traumatic. This time around, I got smart and visited my local 99 Ranch supermarket and asked them to chop up the crabs for me. That seafood butcher was cool and efficient. Thus, the dish was made, and it was easy and delicious. Give it a try! By the way, I got the recipe from this site . I followed the recipe almost to the letter; I've added my comments in brackets below.

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh noodles
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic (pounded)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
2 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
5 teaspoons grated parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Rince the noodles with cold water and set aside. Heat up a pot of water and let it boil. Boil the noodles in the hot water until they are done, drain the water, and set aside to cool down the noodles. [Just for a little though! I like having the noodles warm.]
2. In a pan, sauté the garlic with the olive oil in medium heat. The purpose is to infuse the olive oil with garlicky flavor. Discard the garlic and then add in 4 tablespoons of butter and turn the heat to low. [I actually prefer to keep the garlic in; the taste of the garlic after it's been cooked in the butter is super delicious. You could also choose to mince the garlic and leave it in instead.]
3. Add in the chicken bouillon powder, garlic powder, oyster sauce and blend well. Set aside to let it cool. [I don't actually let it cool that much because I like the noodles warm.]
4. Once the garlic mixture is cool and the noodles are cool at room temperature, pour the garlic mixture over the noodles and toss them together to blend well. Add in the grated parmesan cheese, toss well, and serve immediately. [Again, ignore the first part if you prefer warm noodles.]

Note: Sometimes, I need to reheat the noodles a bit because the crab's not ready yet. In that case, I put the noodles in an oven-safe dish and put it in the oven at about 150-200 degrees F.

Crustacean-inspired Roasted Crab Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Dungeness Crab (about 2 lbs) [I bought 2 crabs totaling a bit over 3 lbs. The rest of the ingredients is enough to cook this much crab.]
1 stick unsalted butter/8 tablespoons
3-4 cloves garlic (chopped coarsely)
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
2 teaspoons black pepper (cracked using a mortar and pestle)
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Method:
1. Clean and chop the crab into small pieces.
2. Heat up the butter in a wok (between medium to low heat) and saute the garlic until aromatic, but not brown.
3. Add in the black peppers, chicken bouillon powder, and then add in the crab and stir well.
4. Add in the sugar and cook the crab until half done.
5. Dish out and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot with garlic noodles.