Ingredients
1x 350-450g live flower crab
40g fresh hokkaido uni tongues
5g mitsuba stems, finely chopped
3g white unroasted sesame oil
2g fresh lime juice
Zest of ½ sudachi
Sea salt, to taste
Method
Boil the live flower crab in water that is just barely simmering for 8 minutes. Remove the crab from the water and cover with a damp towel, until just cool enough to handle. While the crab is still warm, methodically remove all meat from the crab – try and keep the pieces as chunky as possible, ensuring to discard the gills and being careful of any small shards of shell. Keep the main shell intact for presentation. Once all meat is completely removed, double check for shells. You should be left with somewhere between 90-120 grams of meat depending on how thorough you are. In a cold medium stainless mixing bowl, mash (with the back of a spoon) 30 grams of the uni, reserving the nicest looking tongues for garnish. Add the white sesame oil and mix. Add the crab, mitsuba, sudachi zest, lime and salt and gently fold in to the uni, as to just coat but not break up the crab too much. Gently pile the mixture on to the empty crab shell in approximate bite size pieces, so that when it is eaten it feels light and airy. Garnish with the reserved uni tongues and place on a bowl of crushed ice.
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