Spicy Manhattan-style Snow Crab Chowder
Just before serving.
Another of a series of tomato-based pepperpot stews, though in this case it’s more of a thick soup (I call it a
sloup though now I forget why). Into one large pot goes the following:
- 1 can 29 oz. Tomato Puree, with…
3 cans of 14.5 oz. Diced Tomatoes; base stock.
Approx. 2 pints of water, as required. (added in at a cup at a time to keep thickness down)
Good splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 large cloves of fresh Garlic, sliced and diced
Pinch of whole Black Peppercorns
Followed with coarsely-grated Black Pepper, to suit
Dash of Crushed Mexican Red Chili Pepper, to suit
1 large White Walla Walla Onion, chopped
1 large Anaheim Pepper, deseeded, sliced and diced
1 Green Pepper, deseeded, sliced and diced
2 small fresh Zucchinis, chopped
5 Stalks of anemic-looking Celery, chopped (it had to have some, but dang was it pale looking)
Dash of Celery Salt (Celery Seed & Salt) to make up the missing flavor
½ leftover Broccoli head, chopped (optional)
1 modest bunch of fresh Organic Carrots, chopped (about 6 or 7 medium-small carrots)
1 thoroughly-washed fresh bunch of leafy Spinach, chopped
1 package of 0.66 oz. fresh Organic Basel, chopped
Pinch of Fennel
Two Pinches of Oregano
1 oz. bag of Mexican Sesame Seeds (nutty texture)
Salt to taste
2 pounds of Alaskan Snow Crab leg meat* - added last, chopped
Cook for 2-4 hours on medium-low heat. Add water as necessary to keep consistency from becoming too thick like a stew, though not too thin like a soup. Serve with Sweet Black Bread or with fresh
San Francisco Sour Dough if available. Not too bad with a Mexican lager;
Pacifico would work well.
*Alaskan Snow Crab: This was on sale at my local. Couldn’t believe the price, so I got two pounds. As I unwrapped it, I noticed some extra text below the weight and price. I chopped up the meat and tossed it in. There was something peculiar about the meat so I ate on bit and it tasted fine… maybe a little bland even, whatever. Stirred it in, then grabbed the wrapper to read what it said…
- SURIMI ALK SNOW LEGS FLVRD
Ingredients: Fish protein contains one or more of the following: Pollack, and/or Pacific Whiting, Water, Wheat Starch, Sugar, Egg Whites, Sorbitol, Snow Crab Meat (wow, glad there was some in there! :x ), Contains less than 2% or less of: Salt, Tapioca Starch, Mirin (Rice Wine), Whole Egg, Soybean Oil, Sodium Pyrophospate, Brown Rice Syrup, Soya Lecithin, Glycern, Artificial Flavors (read: MSG), Carmine and Paprika for color, Canolia Oil and Hydrolized Gelatin. (probably the biodegradable casing shit to hold it all together)
Gawd I can’t believe I’ve been duped buying fish. I guess I better catch it myself next time. I mean I knew they could do things with Pollack and faking chopped crab meat, but this looked just like recently shelled snow crab leg meat in the shape of the muscle. I feel like I’m eat’n
Soylent Green, or in this case –
Soylent Red Herring. Grrrr!
Taste: Well, despite all the water I added it still came out quite thick. The “meat” soaked up a lot of the pepper flavor, so it actually tastes sort of bland compared to my normal expectations. The “meat” cooks out and breaks up into layers, like oriental flat rice noodles, with a hint of fish flavor. Overall the dish is a little on the sweet side; a splash of rice wine vinegar would fix that.
Conclusions: I dunno; it’s like getting all dressed up to go out on a hot date, you pick her up in your waxed-out car, present to her a nice corsage... big welcomed smiles, great expectations, and when you get to the shindig - she splits to go hang out with her friends.
I should have used the fresh fish. But is it
r e a l l y fish, or something that has a small percentage of fish in it so they can legally market it as fish?
Where’s the rod and reel?
KF
