Dressed crab salad
This salad puts sweet white claw meat centre stage and works the rich brown meat into the dressing, so the whole crab ends up on the plate and nothing is wasted. Buy a cooked crab and we pick both meats free, kept separate. Shaved fennel and apple bring crunch and acidity that cut the richness cleanly.
Ingredients
- 200g white crab meat and 50g brown crab meat (ask the counter to pick a cooked crab, free)
- half a fennel bulb, shaved paper thin, fronds saved
- half a crisp apple, cut into matchsticks
- 2 baby gem lettuces, leaves separated
- half a cucumber, shaved into ribbons
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- a pinch of cayenne
- brown bread and butter to serve
Method
- Make the dressing first. Whisk the brown crab meat with the olive oil, most of the lemon juice, the cayenne and a pinch of salt until smooth and glossy. It should pour slowly off a spoon.
- Toss the shaved fennel and apple with the remaining lemon juice so they stay bright and pick up seasoning.
- Pick over the white meat for shell, keeping the flakes as large as possible. Dress it with a spoonful of the brown-meat dressing, folding gently twice.
- Build each plate. Lettuce and cucumber first, the fennel and apple through the middle for height.
- Pile the white meat on top in a loose mound and spoon the rest of the dressing around the plate rather than over the crab, so the flakes stay distinct.
- Finish with fennel fronds, a dust of cayenne and a grind of pepper. Serve cold and eat soon after building.
To serve: Serve with brown bread and butter and the last lemon wedge. To drink, a crisp white or a dry rosé.
Shop this recipe: brown crab and what is on the counter today. Crabs picked at the counter, free.
