Soft-shell crab burger with green mango salad & chilli dressing

By: Daniel Wilson
From: The Huxtaburger Book
Makes: 4
Photographer: Chris Middleton

This is what I would call a Thai-style burger. It has some lightly fried soft-shell crab, then a crisp, acidic green mango salad with a hot, sweet, salty and sour dressing. Soft-shell crabs are easy eating; they are simply crabs that have recently moulted (shed their hard shells), which they do each spring.

To clean soft-shell crabs, you need to lift up each side of the top shell and remove the filters (long pointy things), cut off the face, and also remove the tail that curls underneath. Be sure to dry them off as thoroughly as possible so they don’t spit during frying.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
	vegetable oil, for deep-frying
90g	rice flour
45g	potato starch
4	soft-shell crabs, cleaned
4	Soft burger buns, cut in half
	Clarified butter, melted, for brushing

Chilli dressing

Quantity	Ingredient
1	bird’s eye chilli, sliced
1	garlic clove, sliced
25g	palm sugar, chopped
50ml	lime juice
50ml	fish sauce

Green mango salad

Quantity	Ingredient
2	green mangoes, peeled and julienned
1	long red chilli, seeded and julienned
2 tablespoons	roasted peanuts, chopped
8	thai basil leaves, torn
8	coriander leaves, torn

Method

For the chilli dressing, place the ingredients in a deep container and blitz with a hand-held blender.
For the green mango salad, toss the mango with the chilli, peanuts and herbs, and enough of the chilli dressing to coat well.
For the crab, heat about 10 cm of oil in a medium saucepan, to about 175°C. You can test by dipping a wooden chopstick in – the oil should sizzle when ready.
Mix the rice flour and potato starch in a large bowl. Toss the crabs in the flours until dry-ish and well coated. Carefully place two of the crabs into the oil and fry for 3–4 minutes, or until golden, crisp and cooked through. Drain immediately on paper towel and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining two crabs.
Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick frying pan, or flat grill plate, to a medium heat. Brush the insides of the buns with clarified butter and toast lightly on the grill, then build your burgers.