Crab sauce for fish

16 years ago

We went to the Santa Monica Seafood Market yesterday, but DB didn't want dinner yesterday, and so I had to cook the fish we bought today. I had selected a .6 pound of Opah, which seemed a tad skimpy to me, and so I bought 1/4 pound of crab meat for a sauce. I got the idea because I had Marlin with crab sauce in Austin for lunch just before leaving, and the Marlin and sauce were both disappointing, although the idea seemed like a good one. The Marlin steak was only about 1/4 inch thick and was overcooked and dry - the crab sauce was bland. Here's what I made instead, which was infinitely better. I was boiling some potatoes for a side dish (with some minced onion), and so I used the potato water in the sauce. You could use clam juice instead. You can buy Better Than Bouillon Lobster soup base at Superior Touch Store on line. I used to buy lobster soup base at Surfas Restaurant Supply, but it's cheaper on line, if you buy the 16 oz size. I also bought mushroom soup base there because the grocery stores no longer have it.

I have a bit of crab sauce left over, and so I'll have to think of some other uses for it. I think it would be good on an omelet.

Lars

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Comments (5)

triciae
16 years ago
Hi Lars!

Your crab sauce sounds good. It reminded me immediately of our favorite appetizer or brunch item...lobster crepes. You could easily use crab. Just make your standard crepe & keep warm. I julienne carrots & celery very fine (almost thread-like) & rough chop a few of whatever type of mushrooms are in the fridge. Then, quickly saute the veggies just until the mushrooms start to wilt. Season to taste & add lump lobster meat being careful not to break up the large pieces. Continue cooking just until lump lobster meat is warmed through.

Fill your crepes with the mixture & place seam side down on warmed serving plate. Then, I make a quick sauce by sauteing a bit of the small lobster meat in about a tablespoon, or so, of butter...add a quick small splash of sherry & let cook for about a minute. Add another tablespoon of butter, season to taste, & add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened. Pour over crepes. For an appetizer, I serve one crepe per person & allow two for a brunch. They are rich but yummy.

Your leftover crab sauce would be great with crepes!

Happy New Year!

/tricia
triciae
16 years ago
Oops, just remembered you can't do much dairy so the heavy cream may not work for you. :(

/tricia
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Here's my favorite recipe (which I made up myself) for a crab sauce for fish. I love almost all seafood, but crab is my favorite flavor. I've tried making sole stuffed with crab, but I prefer this method: Crab Sauce for Fish Ingredients: 2-1/2 tbsp Butter 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1/4 cup minced Onion 1/4 cup minced Red Bell Pepper 1 JalapeÃ±o, minced 1/4 tsp Thyme 1/4 tsp Dried Basil 1/4 tsp White Pepper 1/4 pound Crab Meat 1 tbsp Lobster (or Crab) soup base 3/4 cup Potato Water 3 tbsp Potato Starch 1/4 cup Lemon Juice (or white wine) Instructions: Melt the butter in a saucepan with the olive oil. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeÃ±o and sautÃ© until the onion is translucent. Add the thyme, basil, and white pepper, and sautÃ© a two minutes more. Add the crab meat and cook for another minute or so, to heat the crab. Combine the soup base with the potato water (or plain hot water) and add to the saucepan. Heat just to simmer. Mix the potato starch with the lemon juice (or wine) and add to sauce pan. Heat just until mixture has thickened. Serve over grilled fish, such as Opah, Swordfish, Marlin, or other mild flavored fish. Can also be used with Sole or Flounder. If you can find Opah, it is an excellent mildly flavored fish with a good texture - somewhat like tuna. Here's my recipe for Cajun Seasoning, which is very good on fish, providing you like spicy food. I also like to make gumbo (but that's rather involved) and Shrimp Udon Noodle Soup. Salmon is my favorite fish for grilling over charcoal for a smoked flavor, but tuna is my favorite for grilling indoors, in a wide ridged pan When I grill swordfish, sometimes I put a couple of mushrooms in the pan, and I always cover it with a loosely fitting domed lid. This helps keep it from drying out. The main thing to remember, as others have said, is to buy very fresh fish that has never been frozen. The exceptions to that would be crab and shrimp, which are frozen on the boat when they are caught. It's better to get fresh shrimp, but it's acceptable to have been frozen. The best shrimp I ever had was on the beach in Vera Cruz. Lars Here is a link that might be useful: My gumbo recipe
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msazadi
16 years ago
Good to see you back from the Republic of Texas Lars.

That sounds like a good solid sauce to remember. I may make that for some leftover salmon, and use it as a casserole topping or as Tricia says, in salmon crepes. Good ideas.
lindac
16 years ago
I want to know where to get lobster or crab soup base?
Linda C
Lars
Original Author
16 years ago
Linda, I bought the lobster soup on line at Superior Touch Store, and I also bought a one pound jar of mushroom sauce, since I already had to pay for shipping. The price with shipping worked out to about the same I had paid in stores for the same brand. You can also order seafood soup bases on line at soupbases.com, not to be confused with soupbase.com, which only sells restaurant size containers.

The crÃªpes idea is a good one, and I'll use that in the future, as I love seafood crÃªpes. BTW, if you haven't tried using potato starch as a thickener, I highly recommend it - I like it a lot better than cornstarch. If you can't find potato starch or potato flour, you could probably use instant potatoes, which I think is mostly potato flour.

Lars

Crab sauce for fish

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triciae

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Crab sauce for fish

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triciae

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lindac

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