Coconut Crab

Ingredients

Crab

• 2coconut crabs (Birgus latro), about 1.5 kg each, live, or 2 kg large mud crab as the sustainable stand-in
• 2 litresseawater or heavily salted water, for the initial boil

Coconut sauce

• 600 mlthick fresh coconut cream, from 2 grated mature coconuts squeezed with a little warm water
• 1large onion, sliced
• 4garlic cloves, sliced
• 20 gfresh ginger, julienned
• 2spring onions, cut in lengths
• 1red chilli, split
• 2limes, juiced
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspcoconut oil

To serve

• Boiled cassava, taro or yam
• Island cabbage (aibika) leaves, wilted
• Lime wedges

Directions

1. Chill the live crab in ice slurry or a cold box for 30 minutes so it is fully torpid before dispatching it, which is both humane and safer to handle given the claw strength.
2. Plunge into hard-boiling salted water and cook 12–15 minutes for a 1.5 kg crab, until the shell turns bright orange-red. This sets the meat so it releases cleanly from the shell.
3. Lift out, cool 10 minutes, then split the crab lengthwise with a heavy cleaver, crack the claws and legs with the back of the blade, and scoop the fat and the prized abdominal contents into a bowl.
4. Warm the coconut oil in a wide pan over medium heat and soften the onion, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes without browning.
5. Add the coconut cream, salt and split chilli, and bring it to a bare tremble. Coconut cream must never boil hard or it splits into oil and curd.
6. Stir in the reserved crab fat, which is the flavour of the dish, and let it dissolve into the sauce for 2 minutes.
7. Add the crab pieces, spoon the sauce over them, cover and simmer very gently 8–10 minutes until the meat is opaque and hot through and the sauce has thickened to a glossy coat.
8. Finish with the lime juice and spring onion off the heat, and serve directly in the shells with boiled root crops and wilted island cabbage.
9. Alternatively, split and grill the parboiled crab over coconut husk embers for 8 minutes, basting with coconut cream, which is the beach method.

Technique

• Coconut crab is slow-growing, long-lived and under real pressure across the Pacific, and is protected or seasonally restricted in parts of Vanuatu. Take only legally sized animals, or make this with mud crab or spanner crab, which is the responsible choice outside the islands.
• The fat in the abdomen tastes intensely of coconut because of what the animal eats. Do not discard it; it is the point of the dish.
• Very rarely, coconut crabs that have eaten toxic plants such as Cerbera manghas can be poisonous. Islanders judge by locality and season; if you have any doubt about the source, do not eat it.

Substitutions

• Mud crab or large blue swimmer crab, cooked identically, is the everyday substitute and legal everywhere.
• Tinned coconut cream works if it is high-fat and unsweetened, but fresh-squeezed cream from grated coconut is thicker and far sweeter in flavour.

Variations

• Simply grilled over an open fire and eaten with lime and salt, the most common island preparation.
• Simmered in coconut milk with island cabbage and pounded taro alongside.
• Cooked in a lap lap parcel with coconut cream in the earth oven.

History

Abundant on the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands, now regulated after decades of heavy harvesting for feasts and export.

Frequently asked questions

What is Coconut Crab?

Coconut Crab is a main from Kiribati: giant land crab roasted in its shell; rich, coconut-scented meat and fat. Abundant on the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands, now regulated after decades of heavy harvesting for feasts and export.

How long does Coconut Crab take to make?

Coconut Crab takes 25 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Coconut Crab?

Yes, within limits. Mud crab or large blue swimmer crab, cooked identically, is the everyday substitute and legal everywhere. Tinned coconut cream works if it is high-fat and unsweetened, but fresh-squeezed cream from grated coconut is thicker and far sweeter in flavour.

What is the most important thing to get right in Coconut Crab?

Add the coconut cream, salt and split chilli, and bring it to a bare tremble. Coconut cream must never boil hard or it splits into oil and curd.