Cocolón: the crabs are back

The crab is the most desired crustacean in our country, its origin, the mangrove, gives it a unique flavor that I personally like more than some of the sea.

Its capture, commercialization and closed seasons are some of the best structured processes; its month of reproduction and shell moulting is highly respected.

The crab ban ended recently, so the entire country and especially Guayaquil at night is full of life with the reopening of the crabs. I like those traditional, rustic places with a view of the street, where there is no greater protocol than tapping and savoring one of the richest products that nature gives us.

We are very skilled at transforming it into different dishes, so for today’s Cocolón we have selected two recipes, a somewhat more traditional one such as the stuffed carapachos, with sweet plantain and crab; and another that we made in class recently with an oriental recipe.

stuffed shells

• 1 red onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 green bell pepper
• Sunflower oil
• 1 teaspoon of achiote paste
• 1 pound cooked crab meat
• 2 roasted ripe
• 1 tablespoon peanut paste
• 1 blonde beer
• fresh coriander
• Cumin, salt and pepper
• 2 butter spoons
• Bread crumbs
• brown salt

How to do it:

1. Chop the onion, garlic and green pepper very fine.
2. Make a rehash with them in sunflower oil and add the achiote paste.
3. Add the crab meat, the crushed sweet plantains and stir.
4. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and add the beer, peanut paste and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the butter at the end, stir until all the elements are integrated.
6. Fill the shells, cover with breadcrumbs mixed with brown salt and bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

Chinese crabs

Ingredients:

• 6 crabs
• 1 cup oyster sauce
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 ginger root
• 1 red onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 spoon of sugar
• ½ liter of dark beer
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 spring onion
• 1 fresh chili

How to do it:

1. Crush the onion and garlic, mix it with the sugar, soy and oyster sauces, grated ginger and black beer until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
2. Cut the crabs in half, you can also separate the head and legs.
3. Season with the previous mixture and place them in a pan over high heat, until they boil, add the broth, cover and cook for 15 to 18 minutes.
4. Chop spring onion, fresh chili and add at the end. (I)