Pil-pil de cangrejo (chilli crab)

Method

1. Place the crab into the freezer for at least 2 hours before cooking. Bring a large pan of very heavily salted water to the boil, remove the crab from the freezer and drop it into the pan. Return the water to the boil. Cook for 25 minutes.

2. Pick all the meat out of the shell and claws: the only non-edible bits are the mouthpiece and the feathery grey gills, the 'dead man's fingers'.

3. Heat the oil in a shallow saucepan until faint blue haze rises. Add the garlic and chillies and fry for a moment. Stir in the crabmeat and the brandy. Allow all to bubble up fiercely to evaporate the alcohol. That's all!!

Cooks Notes:
In accordance with RSPCA guidelines and the recommendation of the University Federation of Animal Welfare, the most humane way to dispatch a live crab is to put it into the freezer at -20°C for at least two hours before cooking.

When it's time to cook the crab, bring copious amounts of very heavily salted water to the boil, remove the crab from the freezer and drop it into the pan. Return the water to the boil and cook as above.

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Ingredients

1 large live crab weighing 1kg, (to yield 450g crab meat)
4 garlic clove, slivered
1 tsp small dried chillies, deseeded and chopped
150ml Olive oil
125ml glass brandy
Salt

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