I spotted this bright little chap, glowing in the sunshine, in perhaps one of the last Summery days this year and snapped him up on a whim.
Now if there were a Venn diagram with mango and lime on either side, a crab would most certainly be sat happily in the middle. The fresh and sweet taste of the crab tastes superb with the sharp mango and lime and combines to create a salad not even an octopus would turn its beak at.
Crab, mango, lime and coriander salad
Serves: 2
- 1 medium sized dressed crab
- 1 unripe green mango
- 1 lime, juiced
- 30g coriander, chopped
- 3 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, mashed
- A chunk of cucumber – approx 10cm
- 2 tablepoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Take the crab-meat out of the shell using a fork. Under the white meat will be the brown – while the white is light, delicate sweet, the brown is creamy, meaty and earthy. I love both.
Finely chop the shallots and the coriander and mix into the crab meat. Then using a peeler, peel the skin of the mango and shave ribbons of mango into the bowl, cut the cucumber in half and shave into ribbons too.
Make the dressing: add the oil, garlic, sugar, salt, lime and chilli flakes into a small bowl and mix together vigorously using a fork. It should be tart and sweet, with a real a kick.
Add the dressing to the crab and mix – divide between two plates and serve.