Name: Quick and Easy Recipe for Crab Stir Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 3 tbsp oil (peanut or canola oil works well for stir-fries); 1-2 tsp ginger, grated or minced; 1 heaping tbsp shallots, finely diced; Pinch of dried chili flakes; or 1 fresh hot chili, sliced; 1 green bell pepper, sliced; 1-2 tsp garlic, minced; 1 package crab legs (Dungeness or snow crab), thawed; Splash of sake, white wine, Shaoxing wine, or beer; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tbsp oyster sauce; 1 cup low-sodium stock (veggie stock or even water); Tender green herbs, like cilantro, chives, or scallions.

A Low-Maintenance Meal That Packs Flavor

Sweet, tender, and succulent wild-caught Dungeness crab is a delicious protein to use in a Chinese-style crab stir fry. Flavored with ginger, garlic, bell peppers, and salty-savory oyster sauce, this crab stir fry is a low-maintenance meal you can make on a moment’s notice — ready in under 20 minutes. Have plenty of napkins on the table, because this Dungeness crab recipe is going to get saucy!

Chef's note: Snap-and-eat crab legs come in different lengths, depending on where they've been broken off at the joint. For this stir-fry recipe, you'll want to break your snap-and-eat crab legs down into manageable, stir-fry-able pieces. Snip them into 2- to 3-inch pieces with a set of kitchen shears, or crack the legs apart at their joints. You may also want to trim off any of tendons that become exposed while you're cracking the legs apart.

What Is Oyster Sauce?

A common ingredient in Chinese cuisine, oyster sauce is a typical addition to stir fries, like our recipe for a spot prawn noodle stir fry. It adds a savory, salty, and sweet layer of flavors to the dish, and has a saucy consistency that melds well with whatever ingredients you have in the pan. You can find oyster sauce at your local grocery store in the same aisle where you'd find soy sauce or hoisin sauce.

If you don't have oyster sauce in your kitchen now, you can also try substituing teriyaki sauce or hoisin sauce to acheive a similar saucy consistency to the dish — though the flavor profile will be different.

Pictured above: Snap and Eat Snow Crab

Print Recipe

Quick and Easy Recipe for Crab Stir Fry

By Wild Alaskan Company

Made with basic ingredients that you likely have stashed in your pantry and fridge, a crab stir fry is a low-maintenance meal you can make at a moment’s notice, as long as you have some snap-and-eat crustaceans on hand.

Prep time

10 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Total time

20 minutes

Yield

2 servings

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil (peanut or canola oil works well for stir-fries)
1-2 tsp ginger, grated or minced
1 heaping tbsp shallots, finely diced
Pinch of dried chili flakes; or 1 fresh hot chili, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1-2 tsp garlic, minced
1 package crab legs (Dungeness or snow crab), thawed
Splash of sake, white wine, Shaoxing wine, or beer
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 cup low-sodium stock (veggie stock or even water)
Tender green herbs, like cilantro, chives, or scallions.

Instructions

1. Ideally, you’ll want to have access to a wok for stir fries, since the design of the wok gives you lots of surface area to work with. That means each ingredient will get plenty of direct contact with the cooking vessel. If you don’t own a wok, use the widest pan you have available to make your crab stir fry.

2. Heat your cooking oil over high heat, until it’s hot enough that it begins to shimmer. Add in your ginger, shallots, hot chili, and bell pepper, frying for about 30 seconds until you see the bell pepper pieces beginning to soften. Then add garlic, cooking for another 20 seconds or so until it’s no longer raw.

3. Just before the garlic begins to pick up any color, toss your crab legs into the wok, moving them around so that they get coated in the sizzling oil and begin to pick up some of the aromatic flavors in the pan. Stir fry for 3 minutes.

4. Remove crab legs and bell peppers with tongs, setting aside on a plate for now; it’s fine if there are still some bits of garlic, ginger, and chili left in the wok.

5. To your hot wok, add in a splash of sake/white wine/Shaoxing wine/beer to deglaze any bits that are sticking to the surface. Then, stir in soy sauce, oyster sauce, and stock (or water). Allow this mixture to reduce for a few minutes, stirring constantly; the wok should be hot enough that bubbles will form around the sides of your sauce mixture when you’re not moving it around. Once the sauce has reduced a bit, take a moment to carefully taste it to see if it’s seasoned enough for your taste; if not, add a touch more soy sauce.

6. Finally, reintroduce the crab legs to the wok, stirring to coat with the sauce. Cover the wok (you can use any lid that is big enough to mostly cover your ingredients, even if it’s way smaller than the circumference of the wok) and allow the crab and sauce to meld flavors for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in any tender green herbs.

7. Transfer your stir fried crab legs to a serving platter, along with a side of your favorite chili sauce, steamed rice, and napkins galore. Enjoy immediately.

Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness, especially if you have a certain medical condition. The FDA recommends an internal temperature of 145°F for cooked fish.

Quick and Easy Recipe for Crab Stir Fry

A Low-Maintenance Meal That Packs Flavor

What Is Oyster Sauce?

Quick and Easy Recipe for Crab Stir Fry

You May Also Like