Tasty homemade ginger scallion crab stir fry (薑蔥炒蟹) is a classic Cantonese cuisine like steamed whole fish. Wanna know how to prepare a crab and make a Chinese blue crab stir fry recipe? Check out this post and video in the recipe card.
Seafood lovers? You will love these dishes: spicy lemon garlic shrimp, steamed garlic shrimp, chili garlic shrimp, scramble egg & shrimp, and steamed whole fish recipes.
What is ginger scallion crab?
Ginger scallion crab stir fry (薑蔥炒蟹) is a classic Cantonese cuisine. This dish is very popular among Chinese seafood restaurants in the southern part of China.
Most of the people deep fry the crabs first then stir fry them. However, some like to stir fry them without deep frying. Besides, in Chinese cuisine, we love to use ginger, garlic, green onion, cooking rice wine and white pepper to cook seafoods.
I remembered my mom made this dish especially during crab season and Chinese New Year. I watched her prepare fresh and alive crab. However, when it is my turn to do it myself. It’s quite a lot of preparation work. Now, I understand why crab stir fry dishes are expensive in the restaurants.
What are the ingredients for Chinese crab recipe?
In this ginger scallion crab recipe, I used blue crabs, ginger, garlic, green onion, egg white, cornstarch, sesame oil, soy sauce, white pepper, cooking rice wine, water, salt and sugar.
Cooking tips for how to make blue crab stir fry:
- If the crabs are alive and very active, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours. This can help slow down their activity and make it easier to prepare them.
- First cut the claws, then pointy legs.
- After that, open the shell, take out the roe and save for later.
- Cut the flap at the back of the crab and cut it into half. Then, remove the gills and stomach on the shell. (Don’t eat the gills and stomach discard them.)
- Wash and scrub the dirt and mud.
- The preparation of live crabs is quite a work, you can always buy some that are already prepared at Asian markets.
- Dip crab into egg white and dust with cornstarch. This can prevent the protein loss when you cook the crabs.
- Deep fry or pan fry the crabs until it changes orange red color. (Don’t need to fully cook them at this point because you will stir fry it later.)
- Stir fry fried crab with ginger, garlic and scallion. Add sauce and water, cover the lid for 2-3 minutes. After that, add the crab roe and keep stir frying them. Pour cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened.
FAQs:
In this Chinese ginger and scallion crab recipe, I used blue crabs because it is easy to find at my local Asian markets and good price.
Blue crabs don't have a lot of meat compared to king, queen and snow crabs. But, most of the blue crab I got at the store had roe. 
If they are alive and very active, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours. It helps to slow down their activity. Then, remove their claws. Cut the pointy legs. Open the shell, cut the crab in half and remove the gills, stomach. Don’t eat the gills and stomach discard them. See the video below the recipe card for details.
When a crab changes color from greenish or brown to orange red. Because the cooked crab is orange red.
Instructions for how to make ginger scallion stir fry blue crab:
How to prepare blue crab:
1. If you have alive and active crabs, I recommend putting them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before handling the crabs. Remove the claws and cut the pointy legs. (I used 4 blue crabs. And, some people like to use a knife to mash the claw a little bit, so it can absorb the sauce when cooking.)
2. Open the shell.
3. Take out the roe and use it later.
4. Open the flap at the back of the crab and remove it. Remember to scrub the back of the crab.
5. Cut the crab into half and take out the roe (save it for later) and remove the gills (don't eat the gills).
6. Remove and discard the stomach.
7. Take out the roe on the shell and cut the front shell a little bit.
8. After all, wash and scrub the crabs to remove dirt and mud.
9. Cut 4 sticks of green onion into half and strips.
10. Peel off 5 cloves of garlic and use the knife to smash the garlic.
11. Beat 1 large egg white, then dip the crab into the egg white.
12. After, put ¼ cup of cornstarch in the container. Dust crab with cornstarch.
Cooking:
13. Pour 2 cups of vegetable oil into the wok.
14. Turn on medium low fire. Use wooden chopsticks to test if oil is hot enough. You will see some bubbles around the wooden chopsticks when the oil is hot enough. Or, use a thermometer to test oil around 350F.
15. Deep fry the leg parts, then the claws and shells.
16. Slightly deep fry the crabs until it changes to an orange red color. (Don’t need to fully cook them at this point because you will stir fry it later.)
17. Pour 1 tablespoon of sesame oil into the wok. Add 5 slices of ginger. Then, add 5 cloves of garlic. Stir fry them a little bit. (If you are worried about sesame oil being heated up, use vegetable oil to stir fry ginger and garlic. You can add some sesame oil after cooking.)
18. Then, add 4 sticks of green onion, the top part.
19. Next, put the deep fried crabs into the wok.
20. After that, add 1 tablespoon of cooking rice wine, 1.5 teaspoon of soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar, ⅛ teaspoon of white pepper and 1 cup of water. Stir it a little bit and cover the lid for 2-3 minutes.
21. The following step, put the roe into the wok. Keep stir frying the crabs.
22. In a small container, add ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Mix it well.
23. Lastly, pour the cornstarch mixture and keep stir frying the crabs until the sauce is thickened or less sauce. Then, add the bottom part of the green onion, mix it and ready to serve.
Enjoy this delicious ginger scallion blue crab stir fry recipe! Also, check out these authentic Chinese recipes: Hong Kong lo mein, beef with bitter melon, Chinese spinach amaranth, sweet and sour pork and Asian shaved ice recipes.
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Ginger Scallion Crab
Video
Ingredients
- 4 Fresh blue crabs
- 5 slices Ginger
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 4 sticks Green onion
Deep Fry Crab:
- 1 large Egg white
- ¼ cup Cornstarch (Use for dusting the crabs)
- 2 cups Vegetable oil (For deep frying crabs)
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Cooking rice wine
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon White pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons Soy sauce
- 1 cup Water
Thicken sauce:
- ½ tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Water
Instructions
- If you have alive and active crabs, I recommend putting them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before handling the crabs. Remove the claws and cut the pointy legs. (I used 4 blue crabs. And, some people like to use a knife to mash the claw a little bit, so it can absorb the sauce when cooking.)
- Open the shell.
- Take out the roe and use it later.
- Open the flap at the back of the crab and remove it. Remember to scrub the back of the crab.
- Cut the crab into half and take out the roe (save it for later) and remove the gills (don't eat the gills).
- Remove and discard the stomach.
- Take out the roe on the shell and cut the front shell a little bit.
- After all, wash and scrub the crabs to remove dirt and mud.
- Cut 4 sticks of green onion into half and strips.
- Peel off 5 cloves of garlic and use the knife to smash the garlic.
- Beat 1 large egg white, then dip the crab into the egg white.
- After, put ¼ cup of cornstarch in the container. Dust crab with cornstarch.
- Pour 2 cups of vegetable oil into the wok.
- Turn on medium low fire. Use wooden chopsticks to test if oil is hot enough. You will see some bubbles around the wooden chopsticks when the oil is hot enough. Or, use a thermometer to test oil around 350F.
- Deep fry the leg parts, then the claws and shells.
- Slightly deep fry the crabs until it changes to an orange red color. (Don’t need to fully cook them at this point because you will stir fry it later.)
- Pour 1 tablespoon of sesame oil into the wok. Add 5 slices of ginger. Then, add 5 cloves of garlic. Stir fry them a little bit. (If you are worried about sesame oil being heated up, use vegetable oil to stir fry ginger and garlic. You can add some sesame oil after cooking.)
- Then, add 4 sticks of green onion, the top part.
- Next, put the deep fried crabs into the wok.
- After that, add 1 tablespoon of cooking rice wine, 1.5 teaspoon of soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar, ⅛ teaspoon of white pepper and 1 cup of water. Stir it a little bit and cover the lid for 2-3 minutes.
- The following step, put the roe into the wok. Keep stir frying the crabs.
- In a small container, add ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Mix it well.
- Lastly, pour the cornstarch mixture and keep stir frying the crabs until the sauce is thickened or less sauce. Then, add the bottom part of the green onion, mix it and ready to serve.
Notes
Cooking tips for how to make blue crab stir fry:
- If the crabs are alive and very active, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours. This can help slow down their activity and make it easier to prepare them.
- First cut the claws, then pointy legs.
- After that, open the shell, take out the roe and save for later.
- Cut the flap at the back of the crab and cut it into half. Then, remove the gills and stomach on the shell. (Don’t eat the gills and stomach discard them.)
- Wash and scrub the dirt and mud.
- The preparation of live crabs is quite a work, you can always buy some that are already prepared at Asian markets.
- Dip crab into egg white and dust with cornstarch. This can prevent the protein loss when you cook the crabs.
- Deep fry or pan fry the crabs until it changes orange red color. (Don’t need to fully cook them at this point because you will stir fry it later.)
- Stir fry fried crab with ginger, garlic and scallion. Add sauce and water, cover the lid for 2-3 minutes. After that, add the crab roe and keep stir frying them. Pour cornstarch mixture until the sauce is thickened.
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