This is one of my favorite crab recipes 
(original recipe was from a Ken Hom cookbook many years back) that has never failed with guests… Take several handfuls of dry sotanghon (glass noodles or mung bean noodles)and soak it in some warm water until soft and drain. Clean some good alimango (mud crab) and cut into large pieces. Heat up a pan and oil and when it is smoking, add 2-3 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger, then 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic and 3-4 tablespoons of sliced shallots and stir briskly. Add the crab pieces and toss for a minute or two, still on high heat.
Add several cups of chicken stock (how much depends on volume of 
noodles and desired soupiness post cooking) and 2-3 tablespoons of Kikkoman soy sauce, 2-3 tablespoons of oyster sauce and ½ tablespoon of sugar. Add the noodles and cook until soft and liquid has been sucked into the noodle and brings flavor, about 10 minutes. Add some chopped wansoy (coriander) and cook a minute longer, then serve hot with lots of steamed rice. The crab is delicious and distinct, yet the noodles are highly flavorful and go well with the rice. This is an easy, fool-proof dish that I must have at least once a quarter! My photos here are a bit misleading – they look like sotanghon with crab rather than crab with sotanghon… adjust volumes of ingredients to your liking…and enjoy!
15 Responses
Wow! It isnt as complicated as i thought,thanks so much for sharing the recipe. Cant wait to try it! Just curious though, I oftentimes wonder if there is a proper way of killing the crab before cooking them. I just stab an ice pick in between its eyes and wait for it to stop moving. In an episode of martha stewart living, she advises to put crabs in a huge pot and pour whisky or rum to get the crabs to pass out. what do you do?
ah yes, the crab sotanghon has become a very popular dish. seems the ‘tanghon absorbs the flavor of the crab nicely. i have seen my favorite chinese restaurant’s cook cook, and serve, this in a hotpot (clay enammeled pot), though i’m not sure if this enhances the flavor.
mm, a couple of chinese dishes with crabs that are gaining a small following here are crab rice – much like crab sotanghon but with chaofan, and steamed egg with crab, where crab is steamed in a deep dish with chinese egg custard, and the crab fat melts and mixes with the egg custard- yummy!
I love crabs, so will try this out! :) btw, did the citrus chicken recipe you posted a few weeks ago and it was a hit :)
Ichabod, we actually put the crab in the freezer for a few minutes because they say the cold puts them to sleep.
Just came back from market with some crabs, was going to finally try your crab with garlic and chili, but think I will try this instead.. goes better with the steaned red tilapia I bought too! Thank you so much for these delicious and easy recipes..My family thanks you too!
I’ve seen this in the Chinese restos and wondered too…thanks to this I know now (oops, rhyming not intentional) why don’t you enter this in the “is my blog burning” food-blogging event. the current theme is about noodles!
My family love eating this dish from the Chinese buffet resto in Chinatown. Now I know na how to do it. I will definitely try this at home. Thank you so much, Mr. MM.
Hi! Sounds like a great recipe! What chicken stock do you use? Homemade? Any suggestions on what to use if one is too lazy to make a batch? I usually mix the powdered chicken stock from santis with some knorr chicken cubes….
Booey, I try to have homemade in the freezer for easy use…but I admit, it can be a pain to keep making it. I buy low sodium canned chicken stock whenever I can find it in the groceries, which is less than 20% of the year. Powdered reconstituted should work fine. The soy sauce and oyster sauce tends to overwhelm the chicken stock in this recipe.
This reseipe is really deliciously excellent! The Thais cook this in a claypot and the gravy gets into the glass noodles, giving it the most aromatic taste!
The pictures really look juicy. Getting hungry..and I just had lunch! Your site is a new discovery for me and I am really enjoying it. Thank you!
wow thanx for posting the recipe MarketMan! by high heat did you mean, normal stovetop high heat or the wok-cooking kind?
Oh man, I love crab tang hoon. I’ve had this in the restaurants here in Singapore but never tried to cook it myself. I just might give this a go. Yums!
Shoppaholique, go as hot as your stovetop can go… MM, it’s really easy, except for cleaning live crab, so give it a go at home!
Mr. Marketman what’s the difference between shallots and onions? I tried a crab dish before but I used rice wine. DO you think rice wine can also be used in this recipe?
ricobaby, a shallot is an onion or part of the onion family. They are the smaller onions or sometimes referred to here as native onions. I have a photo of shallots in my post on shallot confit at https://www.marketmanila.com/archives/shallot-confit – generally speaking I use onions to refer to spanish or larger red onions such as those I feature at the BOTTOM on my post on onions at https://www.marketmanila.com/archives/sibuyas-onions . And YES, shaoxing rice wine is often used in dishes such as this. It adds a distinct flavor to the final dish.