How to cook Rellenong Alimasag

Rellenong Alimasag is the Filipino version of Stuffed Crabs. Crab meat is sauteed along with some vegetables, spices, and seasonings. The cooked mixture is later stuffed inside individual top shells of the crab, and fried in medium heat for a few minutes to complete the cooking process. Since the meat extracted from each piece of crab is limited, fillers such as carrots and potatoes are used. These vegetables also act as additional sources of vitamins and nutrients. Rellenong Alimasag is best served with hot steamed white rice. As for the sauce, I really don’t want to get fancy. I use our favorite brand of banana ketchup. In case you want something different, try using sweet and sour sauce. This recipe uses blue crabs because it is the most common variety in my location. You may use different types of crabs depending on your preference. It is also possible to omit the vegetable fillers if you have additional crab meat. Some groceries sell fresh or frozen crab meats — there are also canned crab meats in the section where canned tuna are located.

Ingredients

• Meat and top shell of 8 pieces steamed blue crabs
• 1 medium potato diced
• 1 medium carrot diced
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 piece long green chili (siling pansigang), chopped
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 3 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil for sauteeing
• 2 pieces raw eggs
• 1 cup cooking oil for frying

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat pan and pour-in 2 tablespoons of coooking oil.
2. Saute onion and tomatoes.
3. Add potato and carrot. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes
4. Put-in the long green chili and crabmeat (you may include the juice of the crab for additional flavor). Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add parsely, garlic powder, salt, and ground black pepper. Stir. Turn off the heat and place in a large bowl.
6. Once the temparature cools down, combine the cooked mixture with breadcrumbs and eggs. Mix well.
7. Stuff each crab shell with the mixture.
8. Heat a pan and pour-in 1 cup of oil.
9. When the oil becomes hot, fry the stuffed crab shells. The part with the stuffing should be facing up. Gently scoop the hot oil using a spoon and pour the oil on the stuffings. This will slowly cook the stuffing.
10. Flip the crab shell and fry the side with stuffing in medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.
11. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate.