Manong Seafoood came by the office early this week (I promise to get his name next time he visits). I already purchased tambakol (yellow fin tuna), maya-maya (grouper) and sugpo (prawns) from him the other week and I had no more budget for more seafood this week. But then, I was told he brought blue crabs this time! So of course, I had to buy some! That evening, I planned to cook the blue crabs in coconut milk (gata) with string beans (sitaw) and squash (kalabasa) since hubby loves the dish. The problem is, it will be my first time to cook crabs this way... and based on past experiences, I just can't perfect any ginataan dish unless I use the powdered coconut milk. Just to be safe, I planned to cook half the crabs in coconut milk and the other half in soda and salt (halabos style). |
To do this, I looked up the recipe using the Pinoy Food Recipes app. These are the ingredients and instructions from the app. This is not my recipe. Credits go to the contributor / owner of Pinoy Food Recipes app.
The recipe called for 10 pcs small sized crabs or 5 pcs medium crabs. I forgot to scale down the number of cups of coconut milk to get the proper ratio for the 3 pcs of medium crabs I had in my cast iron pan. Heck, I did not even bother to measure the coconut milk before I poured it into the pan.
The result? See photo below... (apologies for the poor quality of the photo, our kitchen light got busted that day!)
The result? See photo below... (apologies for the poor quality of the photo, our kitchen light got busted that day!)
See? It was broth overkill! There was too much gata (coconut milk) that when the string beans and squash were cooked, there was still so much coconut milk. I put in the steamed crabs and seasoned the dish... ready to put the kakang gata (pure coconut milk) for that creamy finish... but there was just too much broth! I was really sad because I might just have wasted a good batch of crabs and disappointed my husband who's been eagerly waiting for this dish to be cooked. I was thinking of waiting for the broth to reduce, but that would mean overcooking the crabs and the vegetables.... Oh, what to do? |
In the end, hubby suggested I take out the crabs and vegetables from the coconut milk and let the coconut milk reduce without overcooking the crabs and veggies. He was also very eager to take apart the crabs anyways so I served the crabs and veggies with a third of the coconut milk. Seasoning's fine...I just didn't get the liquid portions right.
Well, the important thing is that hubby was happy with his dinner. Kids didn't dare ask for the crabs though... the claws may have scared them a bit, so they ate the Sinaing na Tambakol (Yellow Fin Tuna simmered with dried kamias or bilimbi fruit) cooked the other day.
Next time, I will know better to take measurements seriously... especially with dishes with coconut milk.
Well, the important thing is that hubby was happy with his dinner. Kids didn't dare ask for the crabs though... the claws may have scared them a bit, so they ate the Sinaing na Tambakol (Yellow Fin Tuna simmered with dried kamias or bilimbi fruit) cooked the other day.
Next time, I will know better to take measurements seriously... especially with dishes with coconut milk.