Vietnamese Salt & Pepper Crab (Cua Rang Muoi Tieu)
A simple and delicious crab dish, Cua Rang Muoi starts with deep-fried crab to give them a crispy texture, and then wok stir-fried with a fragrant and colorful mix of garlic, onions, bell peppers, salt, and pepper.
Looking for a crab recipe to take advantage of crab season? Look no further than Vietnamese Salt and Pepper Crab or Cua Rang Muối Tiêu. This dish has the perfect blend of sweet crab meat and the bold yet simple flavors of salt and pepper.
In this recipe, I’m working with whole live crabs and tackling the dismemberment myself.
Store-Bought Cooked Crabs
If the thought of dismembering live crabs is too intimidating, pre-cooked crabs are available at many supermarkets and can be used for this recipe. Skip the deep-frying step and go straight to the wok frying with the aromatics for a tasty, hassle-free meal.
MSG (Make Sh*t Good)
To make this dish even more irresistible and restaurant-quality, consider adding a dash of MSG, which correctly stands for Monosodium Glutamate. MSG adds an extra umami kick. It’s not required, but it makes a world of difference and really does make sh*t good.
Recipe below. Happy cooking!
PREP TIME: 10 Min
COOK TIME: 30 Min
TOTAL TIME: 40 Min
INGREDIENTS
3 whole Dungeness crabs
1 cup tapioca starch or cornstarch
3 green onions (cut into 1-inch segments with whites and greens separated)
3 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
½ yellow onion (diced)
½ red bell pepper (for color)
1 jalapeno (optional for a spicy kick; thinly sliced)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon MSG (optional)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
