I was surprised to note that I had never posted a recipe for guinataang alimasag on the blog before… So based on reader requests, here it is. Actually, this version has both crabs and shrimp, plus ample veggies, so it’s a whole meal in one dish… with lots of rice on the side, of course.
I started with 1.5 kilos of fresh blue crabs or alimasag. Wash them and remove their underflap, and cut into two pieces. In a large pan, add a little vegetable oil, saute slices of ginger, some chopped onion and smashed garlic until fragrant and the onions slightly translucent. Add about 1 kilo worth of freshly squeezed coconut milk/cream and bring to a simmer. Add some cubed kalabasa or kabocha squash, some patis or fish sauce to taste, and simmer for another 3-4 minutes. Add some sliced mild chilies (siling mahaba) and some bird’s eye chilies if you desire more spice.
Add the crabs, cover and steam until crabs are just done. Stir carefully so as not to mash up all the squash. Add some salt and more fish sauce if necessary. Lots of cracked black pepper as well… Slip some nice shrimp or prawns into the pot about 4-5 minutes before taking it off the flames. I added another half kilo of coconut cream towards the end of cooking, which made this a particularly rich version… Taste the sauce often, as the crabs can vary in saltiness, and you may need to add seasoning.
I like to throw in a few squash flowers for variety and interest and texture in the final dish. This didn’t take more than 15-20 minutes to make. And it was really delicious. I am so not getting this “you must eat seafood during lent as a sacrifice thing”… You need lots of rice to mix with the sweet, rich, spicy and savory sauce. Perfect meal to eat with one’s hands, kamayan or kinamot style. :)
The crabs with coconut cream served in a fish platter. Happy eating! :)
57 Responses
Ang sarap niyan!!!!!Kagutom.
Do you cut up the crabs while they’re still alive or do you steam them first?
MM, what sort of pan are you using? I want one! The recipe looks fantastic.
…add a touch of curry and TABA NG TALANGKA!!! Naku po!!!! There is smething about curry and coconut milk that is katakam-takam!…good thing I just had my cholesterol level checked last week…
MM…if you have any leftovers (which I doubt you will!), it makes a good pasta sauce!
My Oh My Oh My!
Abao, kinamot gid. Please pass the rice!! Thanks, MM.
Don’t know bout you guys. I have not been devout since my choirboy days but the way it stuck with me even to this late period of fall from grace is that one is not only supposed to abstain from land meat (lamang kati) but also from indulging from things that one enjoys. These dishes you have been suggesting might squeak through the no land meat requirement but will be definitely stopped in their tracts by their pleasure generating qualities. Besides, if you really want to impress your reckoning angel, some serious fasting should also be the order of the day.
My suggestion is sarciadong daing or grilled dried squid. Not as luxurious as bacalao a la vizcaina but giving off the same cautionary smell and foretaste of hell while being cooked.
Your pictures are wonderful! I can almost taste it. If only there was such a thing as smell-a-vision… I guess for now I would have to settle for soy-glazed salmon for dinner which is no comparison. However, you just gave me a great idea for what to cook for Easter dinner with the family. Thanks, MM!!!
Your blog truly makes me miss the Philippines so much, and I grew up in the states.
Footloose, I completely agree with you. We are not really abstaining, let alone fasting. So perhaps we should set MM some challenges. Here where I currently live (French/Spanish border) eels ( palos in tagalog) were apparently considered ok for abstinence by the Catholic church. Any good eel recipes MM? As for fasting….? I understand the Church definition of fasting is only having one meal a day, so, what does one have for that meal ( no land animals!)
Yum! Also good with Sayote tops and paco
pang holy week jud ni marketman!!!..:)
Josephine, I have a recipe for small eels in the archives… I cooked them alive which got me into hot water with some sensitive readers… :) Footloose, you are absolutely right… my late mother-in-law, who was quite devout, fasted every single Friday, eating only bread and water. But in later years, the most amazing ensaimadas, croissant with jam, etc. qualified as the “bread”…heeheehee. But I am pretty sure she had a business class ticket to heaven. :) Josephine, the pan is a large straight sided stainless steel Sitram with cover. You should be able to order one from Dehillerin in Paris, for delivery. Sitram’s and Staub’s are my two favorite pans at the moment, though if you put it to a blind test, I probably couldn’t tell from the results cooked…
You hit it right on the head, Footloose! I, for one, am not a meat eater…hubby and his family have learned over the years not to push steaks and roast beef right at my face. On the other hand, from where I stand, tuyo in olive oil, spicy dried squid in small packages I buy at Pinoy stores have become a luxury for me and am contented with just those as pasalubongs from relatives back home. Abstinence for me is opening a jar of my canned salmon sardinas (which is slowly getting depleted) or bulanglang made with rice water and ginger!
Footloose…dulong in olive oil…do you have a canner? If not, I can bring you a case of homemade dulong in olive oil. I can even show you how when i get there…look for silverfish that looks like dulong…product of Vietnam! It isn’t white or opaque like the silverfish but more like translucent with a grayish hue!
MM, can I serve the squash flower uncooked? It looks so pretty on top as a fresh garnishing.
yummy.. however, our family’s version of this dish uses alamang instead of patis.. making sure to saute the alamang with the ginger, garlic, and onions. ;-)
Please excuse my ignorance— are the blue crabs and the talangka they sell in the wet market in Manila always safe? I was planning to replicate this dish when I visit Manila very soon and will look for these crabs at the Farmers’ Market.
hahaha…footloose, you’re so right! we have our traditional holy week menu all set. abstinence is only recommended for Good Friday, but it wouldn’t hurt to start early with dishes like this ginataang alimasag, salted egg shrimps and crab, spaghetti ala vongole and salmon croquettes. of course, bacalao is reserved for lunch on Good Friday, after a breakfast of champorado and fried dried squid and dried espada/diwit (cutlass fish). merienda of gulaman and pinipig with coconut milk (guinumis).
MM, sometimes i prefer blue crabs over the mud crabs since they’re always sweeter and easier to take off the shell. the squash flowers are a brilliant addition.
bettyq, i used to love a dish at the “Kamayan Restaurant” called “manggaligue”. it was shredded green mango sauteed in lots of garlic and aligue, and you can throw your diet out the window because this dish needs..no, demands A LOT of rice!
Ms BettyQ, when are you going Pinas? Your idea of adding of adding crab roe is genius.
This dish is a local favorite in Quezon. Most of the time we add kangkong or malunggay, and sayote and squash.
Whats the best canned coconut milk? Kasi
If i try to cook Thai curry its not oily like the ones
You get in restaurants?
This just brought back memories of how we used to have crablets cooked in coconut milk. Not as much meat, but the sauce is essentially what got you through a meal; drizzle it over rice, mix it, and it didn’t matter how much ‘ulam’ was there, you still wanted more.
It looks wonderful, MM! Thanks for sharing. I use a pinch of nutmeg just to make a bit of difference. No meat during Good Friday? It doesn’t really matter … what with no meat but with prawns, crabs, tanigue, lapu-lapu, and all the other favorite more expensive things … ?
This lenten dietary land meat requirement actually softened on a few surprising borderline exceptions. Duck, it was argued, being a waterfowl, quacked through.
@BettyQ Thanks for the consideration but not too much food please. I have been waging a losing battle with my weight for some time now and am afraid, not winning. Instead of Bond, James Bond, I rather look like Oddjob from Goldfinger.
This recipe has several of my favorite ingredients – coconut cream, kalabasa, squash flowers and of course alimasag. I will have to try my hand at making this dish soon =)
cwid, the blue crabs in Manila markets, at Farmers or Seaside are enerally brought in from elsewhere, and so far I have had good experiences with them. I am not certain about the quality of talangka. You can, however, buy hermetically sealed talangka from places like Blue Kitchen which also carry other favorite pinoy dishes… they have branches at Rockwell and Shangrila Malls…
@bettyq, adding the taba ng talangka and curry is a great idea :-) I’ll be trying this recipe hopefully this weekend.
Havent made this dish for so long, I shall try cook it this Easter break and invite some Pinoy friends…. yummmm, thanks!
@ betty q.
Could you please share your recipe for dulong in olive oil? I once bought a packet of the frozen silverfish you talk about thinking I could fry them until they’re crispy enough to eat with plenty of rice and kalamansi on the side but that did not work. But this olive oil version sounds promising since I’ve tried the Connie’s brand and it was yummy! If I can do it myself, no need to wait for pasalubong. :)
Betty q, what does your made in Canada bulanglang contain? Any veggies that are not in the usual bulanglang?
As part of my abstinence I am now eating boiled peanuts – not much of a sacrifice since it’s a favorite! But.. why didn’t it get salty in spite of the salt I mixed with the water?!
Coconut milk and seafood has always been a good combination.This is a must try!
This was a family favorite, growing up close to the seafood market in Baclaran and having a Bicolana cook who likes to prepare it with a little fire of siling labuyo. Sarap, with fresh rice
and a tall glass of Pepsi with ice to “cool down” our mouth afterwards.
Nice, really nice. I love them blue crabs plus ginataan? Wish I were back home.
Hi Betty,
Another hand up for the dulong recipe please =)
Stewart
I’m not a Alimasag fan, but I’m sure this recipe will be great with other seafood I love! thanks MM! :) by the way, I’ve never tasted squash flowers, I wonder how it is.
Gejo: all fresh frozen vegetables grown last summer goes in our bulanglang…there ‘s the fortex beans (our equivalent of your sitao there), the barloloys (don’t have patani), cubed calabaza, yams, zucchini chunks (don’t have patola), something I call Chinese potato (don’t know English translation…it has the taste and texture of potato but looks like water chestnuts, skin is grayish not black or brown) and LOTS OF OYSTER MUSHROOMS!
Ok..Stewart and Malou…I have only tasted dulong in olive oil once and it was given as pasalubong a few years ago. I tried the recipes on the web but it just didn’t cut it for me. It did not have the texture I was looking for simply because the frozen dulong that we get here in Asian stores are not like the ones we have back home. So, I figured that to get the texture close to what I tasted, it has to be processed in a canner as opposed to the ones on the web that you just simply saute till dry. So, this is my version of that dulong in olive oil.
Yield is about 6 to 7-250ml. wide mouth salmon jars
3 pkgs. frozen dulong (silverfish here ) …get the ones product of Vietnam and looks translucent with grayish hue.
6 to 7 shallots
few peppercorns
kosher salt
a few tbsp. sweet pickle brine or calamansi
herbed infused olive oil
few sweet red pepper strips
basil leaves
small bay leaves
garlic cloves, peeled
In a small pot, heat maybe about 1 cup olive oil and then put on low to simmer adding half a sprig of basil, 2 small fresh bay leaves, 3 peeled whole garlic cloves bruised with back of a knife. Let it simmer on low heat until garlic has softened maybe about 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool and set aside.
Sterilize 6 to 7 small canning jars. The dulong add some water and a few tbsp. vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes to remove the fishy taste. Rinse thoroughly and drain very well. Then fill the jars with the drained dulong and top it with 1 red pepper strip, sliced shallots, 1 garlic clove split in half, 1 thinly sliced carrot coin, a bay leaf or small basil leaf, a squirt of calamansi (SQUIRT only if using calamasi) or sweet pickle brine (about 1/2 cucharita), a little less than 1/2 tsp. salt, 3 peppercorns. Then top everything with just 1 cucharita herbed infused olive oil.
Make sure there is 1 inch headspace for it to seal properly. Wipe the rim with a VERY CLEAN CLOTH. Put the lids (prepared according to manufacturer) and the ring on turning it as tight as you can. Then process in canner following the manufacturer’s advice…10 lbs. pressure. I process mine for 1 hour 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
For the remainder of the oil, strain and refrigerate. When ready to eat (which tastes better if you let the jars sit for a few days before eating), drizzle a bit of the infused oil and smush the contents of the jar removing the bay leaf and the peppercorns if you wish.
If I have to fast, I can DO THIS!! Baptists observe Lent but don’t fast…this looks so delicious!!
@gej, i remember when my mom boiled peanuts for our baon (excess from the farm) she would crack/make pisil the top of the nutshell before boiling in the saltwater, it ensures the salt to get thru and thereby producing salty boiled peanuts if shelled when cooked.
Wow! some abstinence urm feast! This would be good enough as Easter entree –the flowers add as Spring inspiration. I’m not a devout Catholic either but growing up in Balayan Batangas, where Holy Week was observed quite dramatically; I have fond memories of eating puto and Toge (sp?) or mung bean sprout with sotanghon, upo or sayote and hibe broth, sometimes shrimp heads and achiote for color. This was the same fare our family served for ‘taga-basa ng Pasyon’ – was a dying art back then. Do they still exist? For those not familiar with this, townsfolk come and volunteer to read more like chant, the Passion of Christ (a special book written in quatrains). My understanding was those folks just showed up at our garage turned altar (antique Ixiomo scared the crap out of me as a kid) took turns until they finish the book by Good Friday. Turning the TV on was not allowed in our house so nothing for me to do but serve salabat for the readers. Haven’t thought of this for a while–thanks for reading.
kcmc – wow, she will kurot the individual peanuts?
una – yes, they still do Pasyon, in fact I was talking just last night to 2 people in Pinas, one is just an attendee reader, and the other is the host of a separate session. And they live just a block away in a small district in Sampaloc. So imagine mo, in 1 street, baka more than sessions going on. Here in Houston, I know some Catholic families who also host one in their house, and the whole Pinoy congregation of this church attends it.
I remember growing up, my mom insist we read the whole bible in the entire week. That is the only time we can hold the bible, kasi sabi nila nuon its very sacred and its only the priest that is allowed to touch it.
Ms. BettyQ, that chinese potato is a certain type of gabi, I love that in my nilaga, sinigang, ginataan.. I even planted some in my garden and use the leaves, hindi siya makati like the other variety.
Thanks Betty, now I have go get myself some canning stuff! What would happen if I omit the canning stage and say just steam the dulong? I have no canning experience … except opening them. ;-)
Stewart
i’ve cooked this before,but adding curry
sounds like a great idea. thanks, bettyq…
@Una and EbbaBlue
Soupy sotanghon that seems to never cool down (in the heat of Holy Week back there) is one of the standard food offerings for Pasyon readers. This young penitent who must have built up an appetite intoning a few chapters was a bit too eager to gulp down a scorching soupspoon of it and as usually the case, you realize it’s too hot only once it is irretrievably in your mouth whereupon tears instantly welled in his eyes so the server inquired “Ay, napaso ka ba amang?” “Hindi po lola, bigla ko lamang po naalala ang paghihirap ng ating panginoon.”
Stewart…if you can wait, I can lend you my pressure canner. Before I was so eager to try the dulong in olive oil recipe I found on the web…though it was tasty, the finished product did not turn into a pate-like consistency FOR I JUST SAUTEED IT AND simmered it till tender and cooked….still did not turn into a pate.
But go on Craigslist Vancouver and search pressure canner. At the moment (though I don’t know if it is sold already) there is one for sale …18 qt. for only $40. You can also make tawad! It looks like in very good condition. What you need to ask the seller is the condition of the sealing ring…how old it is…$40 is a good investment if you are just a newbie at canning. When you are adept at it, then go for the Rolls Royce of pressure canner. …ALL AMERICAN PRESSURE CANNER! With a pressure canner, you can also make SALMON -Portuguese sardine style. In a few months the RED CHINOOKS WILL START COMING IN! I found frozen tawilis a few months ago and turned it to sardines , too….A MUST TRY!!!!!
Thanks betty q. That is quite a souped up bulanglang! Is there something you do before freezing vegetables, or do you just put them straight into the freezer?
Thanks kcmc. Ang tiyaga! I’ll do that. I kept one takal of peanuts for boiling today. Yes, I am abstaining from abstaining.
Gejo…the beans, I blanch really quickly and then dry thoroughly and then single layer on cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, I vacuum pack or just in zip plock bags removing as much air as I can. The others just freeze also single layer till frozen and then in zip plocks as well.
It takes patience to crack open peanuts one at a time. try this…single layer on a cutting board. Then get a skillet and put on top of peanuts. Apply light pressure on the skillet and check if you crack open the peanut. This is just a thought and I haven’t tried it but that is the way I pit olives …you could also try back of a cleaver. It might work on peanuts.
Thanks betty q! I guess it’s the same with spinach and other similar leafy greens? But how can I thoroughly dry something like blanched spinach? Ha ha sorry be patient with my overly simple questions!
I’ll do that with the peanuts! Knees, get ready for some fresh uric acid!
Spinach…after blanching, I squeeze the spinach to remove excess moisture and then, I put them in disposable single serving Glad plastic containers…once frozen, I remove them and again in zip plock bags and then label and freeze.
Red peppers,…I roast them till charred, skin them and then pack them in snack size zip plocks (for single use) and freeze….ready to be used …makes excellent addition to spanakopitas with the frozen spinach.
You can even make ready to use spanakopita filling with all your sinach, roasted peppers and carmelized onions you might have.
Eggplants: slice on the diagonal, grill them till you get grill marks…arrange them single layer in between parchment paper and then freeze. Each layer or 2 makes excellent marinated eggplants (in vinaigrette…olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt/pepper, dijon mustard,
parmesan cheese) to be used for sandwiches! You can do the same with zucchinis…grill them and freeze…ready to be used in Thai noodle salad.
Do not just compost your leftover vegetables, Gejo! Even romaine lettuce, wash them and drain and blanch quickly, then dry on paper towels and cut them in half, and put in small tupperware and freeze (single serving)…Once frozen, pack them in sandwich size zip plocks. To use, defrost, and add them to salmon head sinigang in miso at the very last.
Yellow beans, green beans, you can process as well as your barloloys and make 3 bean salad with them.
I could go on and on but I am sleepy now!
Ginataang Alimasag with unripe langka will be nice too
Our mom’s version has lemongrass and coriander roots. Sarap! Try this fresh herb-y touch.
Oh, Ms. Betty, thanks for the tip. I don’t have a big garden, but a couple of elevated “square foot” type. Years ago, I harvested bagfull of grape tomatoes, chard (which I don’t know what to do), sitaw, white egg looking eggplants (don’t know how to cook them), onions bolted, cilantro shoot up and flowered (did not know seeds are edible), yellow suchinni (got hard on me), watermelon extended to the green grass (lawn guy did not know where to cut), and okra, and brocolli and salad greens. All of these we had so much.
Hubby and I got so overwhelmed, year after he planted only 1 tomato plant and bell pepper.
Thanks Betty! I’ll probably take you up on that! =) Now I’m thinking something like dulong confit style in olive oil…. =) I have the Bouchon (by Thomas Keller) cookbook and there’s a salmon confit recipe in it.
Drrooollll
S.
Stewart: Lucky you have the cookbook! I AM BANNED FROM BUYING ANY MORE COOKBOOKS…BUT just say when! The finished product of my first experiment of processed dulong in olive oil was not pate-y since I added more herb infused olive oil in the jar before processing…so it turned out looking like angulas in olive oil…not wanting to waste it, I turned the contents of 3 jars into rillette, mixing the herb infused olive oil with butter and adding chopped chives. It turned out great…a spread for bruschetta! …and ako lang ang umubos! Next time, we process dulong…we can turn one batch into your confit and I am making my batch into rillette…I can even try smoking the dulong first (once I get hold of a fine mesh) and add some to the rillette.
Millet…that rillete is a MUST TRY!!!! You won’t be disappointed. For you, I am thinking TAWILIS RILLETTE…i know you process sardinas but do not add water. Then smush everything together…vegetables you add and herbs, then reserve some of the herby olive oil and mix it in…pack into ramekins, then top with the butter mixed with a bit of the herby olive oil you used. Even better Millet…BANGUS RILLETE MIxing your sardinas together with tinapang bangus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO MAKING THIS!
Thank you betty q! I I really should start freezing and canning – not easy for me but I should just do it ano!
Funny you mentioned spanakopita. Another favorite! Remember when I asked you if I could freeze feta? My spinach window is about to close, so it’s about time I make this. Kaya lang I don’t use an oven now, just a toaster oven. And I don’t have fillo. I’ll try this using lumpia wrapper – hope it works.
You must have a cookbook bookstore of a library by now! If there’s something I’d like to take a peek in, it will be your, MM’s and Footloose’s book collections! And your kitchens too, of course.
Gejo…can you get puff pastry? If you can, you can use that as well…cut into squares, fill and fold to make a triangle. Kung matiaga ka, allow me to teach you Chinese puff pastry (short cut method like the ones they use for dim sum to make curry beef turnovers…not as complicated and not as labour intensive than the traditional puff pastry. Just make sure that when you give the tops an egg wash, it doesn’t drip on the sides so tht the sides can puff up easily. If you don’t have puff pastry, make a flaky pie pastry and use that too and make something like a spinach empanada. I still have frozen spanakopita filling and pie pastry I used for apple pies the the other day. I am making spinach empanadas for Good Friday kung sipagin ako!
You have done justice to these beautiful blue swimmer crabs. Its looks so yummy!
bettyq, yes, will try to do that, too! no water, ha. and yes, i have lots of herbs in my garden. and i got a “perfect cooker”, which is like a big, super efficient pressure cooker. will definitely do bangus/tamban rilletes!