Passport & Plate - Crab Vermouth with linguine
USA | Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 3 photos
Ingredients
2 tbsp. cornflour
2 cups fresh chicken stock – home made is much tastier than store bought!
1 1/4 cups dry vermouth
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
2 cooked Dungeness crabs (I substitute 1 x blue swimmer per person)
Flat leaf parsley to scatter over the top (or you could use gremolata)
Fresh egg linguine
How to prepare this recipe1. In a large-ish saucepan, mix cornflour with a little of the stock. Then add remaining broth, vermouth, soy sauce, ginger, lemon peel, lemon juice, pepper and thyme.
2. At the same time, Put a large pot of water on for the linguine, add a little sea salt, and bring to boil. Cook the pasta for until just al dente.
3. Stirring often, bring the broth mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the crab, reduce heat, and simmer, continuing to stir often, until crab is hot, (about 5 minutes).
4. Strain the pasta when cooked and pour into a large, wide bowl, then ladle crab and broth over the top. Sprinkle with parsley.
5. This is the easiest recipe in the world - you’re done!
The story behind this recipeChristmas Eve, 1991 was the first – and best - time I tasted Kath’s crab vermouth linguine. I had travelled from Sydney to San Francisco with my newborn son to meet my baby niece, and was invited to dinner at the beautiful family home of my best friend’s mother-in-law, Kath.
Kath’s home was decorated for Christmas as only the Americans can do – a thousand tiny Christmas lights formed an outline of the house and as we walked to the door a beautiful Christmas wreath greeted us with “Welcome Home”. The blazing open fire warmed us the minute we walked inside from the cold night out and we were able to strip off the layers of duck down coats, scarves and beanies. The lounge was lit by the glow of the fire and dozens of candles, and an incredible aroma was wafting out from the kitchen.
I could smell garlic – no surprise in an Italian-American family home, but the ginger was unexpected, and a sweet scent that I couldn’t immediately place.
The large table was beautifully set – there must have been around twenty members of Kath’s large and boisterous family crowded around, plus a few ring-ins, like me! The warmth in the room was clearly not only coming from the fire – the atmosphere was relaxed and celebratory – and everyone was excited about enjoying Kath’s legendary hospitality.
Kath served up the food in huge platters and then we all helped ourselves, home-style. At the first taste of the delicious broth I recognized the flavor of vermouth – it was completely unexpected and absolutely perfect – the broth had an almost perfumey flavor … in a very good way! Tucking into the Dungeness crabs was like tackling a little piece of heaven – why does food always taste amazing when you eat it with your hands???
My memories of that long ago evening are of laughter and happiness. The food was delicious and plentiful. We had fun – wisecracks were flying across the room just as fast as tiny pieces of crab shell, and most of all – the baby slept the whole night!
