Author Notes
If you're in San Francisco I highly recommend checking out the garlic butter roasted crab with garlic noodles at PPQ Dungeness Island or the originator Thanh Long. They are Vietnamese restaurants serving up the local seafood, large, sweet Dungeness crabs. I've created a version that is easier to eat and make if you buy pre-picked crab. - prettyPeas —prettyPeas
Test Kitchen Notes
My husband and I both liked this dish very much. Unable to get Xiao shing cooking wine, I found out that sherry is a valid substitute. I could see where the garlic press wouldn't work—you need the garlic to be chunky (and be forewarned, it's A LOT of garlic)—but my knife worked fine for that. The first part came together really easily. I did give the dish some resting time (about 1/2 hour), but didn't refrigerate it as I felt the pasta would not hold up well. I ended up doubling the amount of sauce to deglaze the saute pan. After tasting the dish as prettyPeas dictated, we experimented with additions to make it more flavorful and give it some texture. We both liked chopped scallions on top, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and a squirt or two of lemon. All in all, we liked the dish very much. —drbabs
Ingredients
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1 pound
linguine
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6 tablespoons
butter (salted, or salt to taste)
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20
cloves garlic
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1 pound
picked crab meat (canned works in a pinch or for budgetary reasons, but is not as sweet. I recommend rinsing canned crab and soaking in Xiao Shing cooking wine during preparation, then draining before use)
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1 tablespoon
fresh lemon juice
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2 tablespoons
olive oil
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3 tablespoons
Xiao shing cooking wine
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3 tablespoons
water
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1 tablespoon
fish sauce
Directions
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Bring four quarts water to a boil in a large pan to cook the linguine.
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While water is boiling and linguine cooking cut garlic into small pieces. Unfortunately my garlic press did not work as well in this application and made it more likely to burn during the dual cooking. I usually use a nut chopper like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZEU2W/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001C2GWTI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=17DKJTE7DCPQZ0KP84SV to chop the garlic but a food processor would work if you are careful.
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While pasta is cooking heat 3/4 of the garlic, 4 T butter and 1 T olive oil over medium heat until garlic begins to sweat but not brown. Pour over crab in a large bowl, big enough to store crab plus pasta.
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Remove pasta from cooking water when just short of al dente (usually about a minute less than the minimum cooking time). Drain and rinse briefly.
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Add noodles to garlic crab butter bowl and toss until evenly covered.
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It is best if this step is allowed to rest, refrigerated. I usually rest overnight, which makes for a quick and easy prep the next day, but you aren't required to rest.
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Bring large sautee pan to medium heat. Add 1 T olive oil and remaining 1/4 of the chopped garlic. When garlic begins to sweat add noodle mixture, spread evenly over pan, and let sit for 1 minute or until noodles begin to brown. Turn noodles and let sit for another minute.
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Mix lemon juice, fish sauce, xiao shing wine and 3 T water in a measuring cup.
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Deglaze noodles with mixture and toss with tongs.
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Add remaining 2 T butter, mix until melted, and serve
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