Cabbage Seafood Salad

I'm exhausted from my weekend.  Yes, from my weekend.  I spent Saturday morning at a volleyball game, and I was quite impressed with the Kohala Cowboys.  Country teams cannot be taken for granted.  They must dedicate lots of time to practicing and honing their skills.  No more volleyball until after spring break.  Spring break, what took you so long?

Just two more days to keep it together at work.  Yay!  I can't believe I made it this far (and I know there is still a long road ahead of me to finish the year).  Prom is coming up soon and graduation will be here in two months.  Ugh.  I feel so unprepared, although I'm more than ready to relax.  I even have my liquid refreshments on deck, and in case Kraken falls short, I brought in reinforcements-wine from a recent Costco trip. 

On the cab ride back to her dorm (bags not even at ambient temperature), D1 laid it on me about the Pure Aloha Festival in Las Vegas coming up in mid April.  No, wait.  I got my story wrong.  She didn't tell me about the festival; she asked me to book her air travel (book=pay for).  Her friend's family will be selling 808 logo items at the festival so she claims she is going there to work.  If she had a car, she could drive to Vegas, but I don't dare suggest it, especially since I know what her driving is like.  I don't think she has ever been to Vegas and likely has no idea how crazy it is to drive there. 

In a few days, D2 will be off on another adventure.  This time the adventure will take her across the continent.  Glad she will be with Uncle Edz (happy 5-0 to you!).  Once again, I'm amazed at all the travel opportunity kids have now.  Times certainly have changed.

With D2 gone this past week, it was only The Help and me.  I figured this was a good time to use up the imitation crab sticks I bought in the jumbo pack from Costco.  D2 said they did not taste like kanikama and wanted nothing to do with them. 

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Cabbage Seafood Salad

     3 tbsp butter, melted
     1/2 small onion, sliced thin
     1/4 c celery, sliced thin (optional)
     2-3 c shredded cabbage
     2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
     1/2 tsp salt
     1/2 c cornflake crumbs
     1 c imitation crab, shredded
     1 c mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 1 1/2 quart ceramic dish.  Pour 1 tbsp butter into a skillet.  Saute onion, celery and cabbage.  Add Worcestershire sauce and salt.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.  Combine remaining 2 tbsp butter with cornflake crumbs.  Set aside.  Add imitation crab and mayonnaise to sauteed vegetables.  Spread mixture in prepared dish.  Top with cornflake crumbs.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Baked Crab Sushi

It was nice to have a holiday last week.  And it will be nice to have a holiday later this week.  I'm grateful for holidays which occur soon after a long vacation.  It makes it easier to re-adjust to the work week.

By this time next week, I will be done with two proms (only one to go!) and a sushi feast at Takenoko Sushi.

I am sooo looking forward to going to Takenoko Sushi.  I've been there several times, and each time, the food has been absolutely delicious.  I had the omakase (chef's choice) several times, and while I got to eat stuff I wouldn't usually order, there were other items on the menu which sounded good but weren't included in the omakase offering.  On my most recent visit, I tried the salmon skin salad.  It was different from the version I'm used to (Hayama Japanese Restaurant), but it was really good too.  They also happened to have mirugai (geoduck clam) that day.  I'm not sure what I will have this time.

Meanwhile, I still need to get through the 2 proms in order to get my sushi reward.  I'm amazed I still have $ left to enjoy a sushi lunch.  Proms cost a lot.  Bids (for a couple) are easily over $100.  Then there are flowers to buy.  Most proms include a dinner, but I'm sure there is some feasting which occurs after the prom...late night snack at Kuhio Grille or Ken's. 

As a teaser for my upcoming Takenoko Sushi trip, I'm going to make baked crab sushi sometime this week.  Of course, I'll substitute shredded kamaboko (pink & white fishcake) for the imitation crab so D1 can eat it.  And since we are playing nicely with The Help, I will use a portion (less than half) of brown rice so he will feel better about having a few pieces.

Baked crab sushi, has become a very popular potluck dish recently.  Its easy to take to parties and can easily be doubled (use a 9 x 13" pan) for larger gatherings.  Using the small, pre-cut Korean nori (seaweed) makes it even easier to serve (no need to cut the nori).

Many variations of this recipe can be found, some of which only contain mayonnaise (no sour cream).  I find the sour cream helpful in mitigating the oiliness of straight mayonnaise.  The Ds aren't big fans of shiitake mushrooms (I'm not sure I am either), so I just use a little or leave it out entirely.  We all enjoy the surprising crunch of tobikko (flying fish roe). 

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Baked Crab Sushi

     2 c rice (rice cooker measure), cooked
     2 tbsp furikake
     1 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked, squeezed and chopped fine
     1 pkg (10-13 oz) imitation crab or kamaboko, shredded and/or chopped
     2 tbsp tobikko
     1/2 c mayonnaise
     1/2 c sour cream
     Korean seaweed pieces

Combine shiitake mushroom, imitation crab, tobikko, mayonnaise, and sour cream.  Set aside.  Firmly press cooked rice into a square (8 x 8" or 9 x 9") baking pan.  Sprinkle furikake all over surface of rice.  Spread crab mixture evenly over furikake.  Broil until top is lightly brown.  Serve small portions of rice and topping in Korean seaweed sheets.

A year ago (Monday, March 24, 2014), I congratulated my friend CT for making the jump over to the dark side of town.  I knew the students would love her and she would be amazed at the amount she saved on gasoline.  This year, I am congratulating her again.  In a few short months, she will be starting another chapter.  Welcome, and really, what took you so long!?

Baked Crab Artichoke Dip

I had a good weekend!

I spent Friday night at a football game.  It was a big game...winner gets to go to the state playoffs, travel to Oahu to play an Oahu team.  A lot was at stake.  At first I thought our boys were too pumped up.  They seemed awfully loud and hyper, but they managed to hold it together on the field.  Now onto the next challenge.

On a whim, The Help and I decided to go to Kona on Saturday.  I wanted to get a large poster printed at Costco and pick up some chips and edamame.  A few minutes out of the driveway, The Help suggested calling the Rents to see if they wanted to tag along.  Gunfunnit!!!  They both agreed!!!  We had to turn around to get them (and wait for Kikukat Mom to get ready).

I was surprised to hear that the Rents hadn't eaten lunch.  Instead of going directly to Kona, we stopped at Tommy Bahama for lunch.  I think they make the best crab bisque.  If I had a copycat recipe, I'd make it at home.  After the cup of crab bisque, I was too full to try a dessert, but there were some neat looking items on the dessert tray.  One of the desserts was made in a pineapple, and there was a gorgeous coconut cake too.  I have a major coconut weakness.  I love anything coconut, including coconut water.

The Rents were well-behaved so we took them to Sansei for dinner.  Kikukat Dad was thrilled that he could consume alcohol without the worry of having to drive home.  After Tommy Bahama, he said he wished he ordered a martini there so he went about fulfilling that wish at Sansei.  Unfortunately, when the food came, he said he wished he ordered a beer instead.  I was shocked when he told the server to bring him a beer.  I tried to drink his martini, but I guess I'm not a fan of Tanqueray.  It smells too much like soap.

The food at Sansei, as always, was delicious.  Kikukat Dad said it was "a hundred times better than Nobu".  I like Sansei, but I don't think it's better than Nobu.  It's different, but it's definitely not a hundred times better...it's not even ten times better!  Kikukat Dad loved the calamari salad, Maui kal bi steak, and rainbow roll.  The only thing he didn't care much for was the mango crab salad hand roll.  He said there was too much grass.  Whatevers.

After eating all that good food on Saturday, I decided to kick off my slippers and stay home on Sunday for a day of tv watching.  I saw Lewis Hamilton get the checkered flag at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX (one of my favorite places).  I'm glad that Lewis won.  It makes five-straight wins.  I also watched D2's Bronco's get their horsey asses kicked by the Patriots.  The Help keeps raving about how Football Baby can sure pick the winners.

So with all my tv watching yesterday, I made sure I had something good to nosh on.  Yes, yes, I know this is mean...posting a crab recipe when someone in my house is allergic.  But I can't help it, and anyway, she wasn't around for most of the day.  The pictures show the dip being served with buttery crackers, but I enjoy this with potato chips too.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Baked Crab Artichoke Dip

     2 cans (@6 oz) crabmeat, drained well
     1 can (12-13 oz) artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
     1/2 sweet onion, chopped fine
     4 oz shredded parmesan cheese
     1 1/2 c mayonnaise
     1/4 tsp white pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Spread in a shallow baking dish (1-2 qt).  Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until top is brown.

Black Bean Crab

I am in Honolulu today!  I haven't been back here since March!  I will be back here next week for LA's wedding, but today's trip came as a small surprise.  Last week I was asked by several school administrators to replace a fellow teacher on a school team.  They said she (my comrade) had suggested me as a replacement for her, as she currently has her hands full with personal issues.  Once I agreed, I was told to plan to be in Honolulu this week.  Yikes!!!

And leave it to the state to be so inept.  They "designated" a hotel to stay at, trying to ply educators with discounted room rates.  What a crock of shit!  First of all, the hotel is in a seedy area, which is ridiculous if you are a woman staying alone.  Related to the seedy area is the "entertainment" choices surrounding the hotel.  NO!  There are hardly any food establishments (not watering holes) within safe walking distance.  The hotel reeks of the days when smoking in hotel rooms was prevalent.  DISGUSTING.  And the worst part...you can get a hotel room for the same $ or even less in a better part of town.  The discounted rate isn't really much of a discount at all.  And let's be clear...whether you stay at this dive or at a better place, the per diem offered as compensation is still the same...it's not like it will cost them more if you chose to stay at the Hyatt.

I plan to devote my attention during the workday to whatever the workshop is about.  When I agreed to be on the school team, I realized that it came with a certain expectation.  It is only fair.  But when the workshop is done for the day, I'm going to have some fun and enjoy myself.  I can't wait to jump on the opportunity to enjoy 2 dinners in Honolulu.  Hmmmmm...where to go and what to eat?  The options are endless.  Hope I get to see some old friends too.

There are so many great restaurants in Honolulu.  I think that's what I miss most.  It's the one thing that, even after moving to Hilo and living here for the past 20 years, I haven't quite managed to overcome.  Let's face it.  The dining out choices in Hilo are nothing compared to what you can find in Honolulu.

When I lived in Honolulu, me and my bff EDZ would dine out all the time.  We usually lunched together at Orson's on Sundays, although at any time during the week, we might hook up for a dinner.  Because EDZ was working with the inside-out aloha shirt crowd, he'd lunch during the week at all these places and we'd get to re-visit some of these places at night...Han Yang, Mama's, Kabuki...just to name a few.

Of course, if it was up to me, I'd invariably pick Chinese (this lapse in better judgment would eventually come around to haunt me in the future, and that itself would be enough fodder to begin a new blog).  Back then, THE dish I wanted to eat was black bean crab.  I must've ordered it at nearly every restaurant I visited.  Some places would just have some starchy black bean sauce poured over the cracked crab and vegetables.  At other places, the black bean sauce would be studded with ground pork.  It was a treat to eat the dregs (after all the crab pieces were gone) over a bowl of rice.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I've become rather adept at making this favorite dish at home.  I make it  the way I like it...crab and a hearty ground pork sauce...no vegetables.  The Ds (well actually just D2 since D1 is now allergic) would prefer an unadulterated crab...just heated and served with a pot of melted butter.  But The Help and I love it this way.  I've trained The Help to disjoint, clean and crack the crab.  Perhaps he might be able to find employment at a Chinese restaurant, should his helping gig not work out.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Black Bean Crab

     1 dungeness crab, cooked

     3 tbsp salted black beans, rinsed & chopped/mashed

     2 eggs

     1 tbsp sugar

     2 tbsp oyster sauce

     2 tbsp shoyu

     3 tbsp cornstarch

     1/3 c water

     2 tbsp oil

     2 cloves garlic, minced

     1" piece ginger, minced

     1/2 lb ground pork

     green onion, chopped

Clean and chop crab into serving pieces.  Combine black beans, eggs, sugar, oyster sauce, shoyu, and cornstarch.  Set aside.  Combine cornstarch and water, set aside.  Heat oil in a wok.  Saute garlic, ginger, and ground pork until pork is cooked.  Add crab pieces.  Stir until heated.  Add egg mixture.  Stir until cooked.  Push crab pieces to the side and add cornstarch.  Cook until thick, gradually stirring pork mixture into cornstarch mixture.  Remove to a serving platter and garnish with green onions.

What an up-and-down weekend!  My beloved Huskies lost a heartbreaker to Stanford.  They came so close to the upset but self-destructed in the 4th quarter.  I don't get it.  We were at home too.  Did we really hire the right guy for the job?  One must wonder.  I know I'm wondering.  Coach P, show us what you got.  Prove to me you deserve the job.  I'm still thinking MarquesT would've had my vote.  Not only did he get the bowl victory, but he is a hometown boy and a Husky. 

A bright spot of the weekend came late Saturday afternoon.  Leave it to high school football to rescue me from the dumps.  We scored a definitive victory over the Cougars to spoil their homecoming.  Actually, it was bittersweet.  Winning is always the goal, however when it's so lopsided, you can't help but feel for the other team.  Hopefully we can win our homecoming game next week.

Saturday evening turned out to be unexpectedly edgy.  What began as a calm night turned into turmoil just after midnight.  I felt something crawling on my tummy.  I flicked it off and was startled by the sound it made when it landed on some paper on the floor.  It was a blue centipede!  It took about 10 minutes of throwing things about to find it again.  It had crawled under some other papers and under the highboy before it crawled back out again.  The Help was able to snatch it up with a pair of tongs and douse it under the 190-degree tap.  Ughhhhh.  We haven't seen one of those in a while, but I suppose the hunt for water drove it indoors.

And just after the centipede incident, when I was already sinus-y from all the dust kicking up during the centipede safari, Mother Nature decided to have herself heard.  Flashes of lightning and loud bangs of thunder put the dogs on edge.  Between the thunder and the barking, I could not get back to sleep.

Ginger-Scallion Crab

It's almost Chinese New Year, and I'm missing out on the festivities in Honolulu!  Waaaahhhh!  I've gone every year for nearly a decade!  Unfortunately, the timing this year just didn't fit in.  We just had too much to do.  Mr. Dependable shirked parental duties last weekend, and D1 had an appointment with the allergist which was supposed to happen this past weekend.  When you live in a small town, there aren't too many specialists.  We waited over 2 months for the allergist appointment, and on Thursday, the allergist's office called to postpone the appointment another 2 months.  That did it for me!  We now have an appointment in Honolulu with a different doctor, with HMSA footing part of the airfare.

I'm bummed because this means we really could have gone to Honolulu for the Chinese New Year celebration.  The Help pointed out that this past weekend would have been an awful time to be in Honolulu anyway. . .its NFL Pro Bowl weekend.  That translates into  difficulty finding a well-priced hotel room and car.  Oh well . . . maybe next year.  I guess.

For some reason, its been crazy at work too.  D1 has an internship at the medical center lab.  She spends two hours there on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She loves it.  I don't think I could handle what she does.  She isn't as squeamish as I am.  I drive her up to the hospital during my lunch break.  Of course I have indigestion on those days from eating so fast.  D1 eats a peanut butter sandwich on the drive. . .peanut butter sandwich is made by both me and The Help.  I make it the way I would make my own sandwich then The Help goes over it to make it like the way he'd make it.  D1 likes the way The Help makes it.  I wonder why.

I finally got off my ass this weekend and made some gao.  I made 2 batches.  I dropped one cake off at JoFer's house on Saturday, and I'm bringing 2 cakes to work tomorrow.  The gao list keeps growing so it's likely I'll be making more next weekend.  I need to be sure I have enough wong tong and mochiko.  Actually, for gao, I prefer to use the Thai glutinous rice flour.  It comes in a clear plastic bag with green writing (the red and blue designs are different kind of rice flour).  The end product is much smoother than what you get when you use mochiko (white box).

Missing out on Chinese New Year has made me ono for Chinese food, and I tried to compensate by cooking Chinese food as often as I could.  On Monday we had Hong Kong Chicken.  On Tuesday we had sweet sour spareribs.  Wednesday was leftovers.  Thursday was our first free night (no basketball game) so we took Kikukat Dad out to celebrate his birthday.  D2 suggested Japanese food as a break from all the Chinese food we've been having.  On Friday, after the Ds left with Mr. Dependable, I made this crab for me and The Help.

The Help claims not to be big on seafood.  He doesn't eat any of the bony fish (e.g., kole, menpachi, aholehole, etc.).  And he says he is not big on oysters, mussels, and lobster either.  But Ginger-Scallion Crab is an exception.  The Help loves this.  You know it's good when you can hear all the lip-smacking and finger-licking (sorry Brucie. . .I'm sure you must be cringing now).

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Ginger-Scallion Crab

     2 dungeness crabs

     2 tbsp oil

     1 tsp sesame oil

     2" piece of ginger, julienned

     1 bell pepper, slivered

     1 tbsp sugar

     2 tbsp shoyu

     2 tbsp oyster sauce

     1 tsp chicken powder

     2 tbsp cornstarch

     1/2 c water

     green onion, chopped

     cilantro, chopped

Combine shoyu, oyster sauce, sugar, and chicken powder.  Set aside.  Combine cornstarch and water.  Set aside.  Heat oils in a wok.  Stir fry ginger and bell pepper.  Add crab and toss with ginger and bell pepper.  Add shoyu mixture.  Cover and cook for 3 minutes.  Add cornstarch mixture and cook until thick.  Place in serving dish and garnish with green onions and cilantro.

Crab Lasagna

The days are passing so slowly!  I can't wait until winter vacation.  I have a whole bunch of things I need to do.  Going on a trip will not be one of them, but I am expecting house guests at the end of the year.  LA tells me she and SN will be coming to spend new years in Hilo.  I guess the family hasn't scared him off yet.  Give them time, and the last time he was here he feigned illness so he hasn't seen them in all their glory.

The arrival of out-of-town guests means that Kikukat Mom's family will be getting together.  Once when they were here, I made a huge mess of spaghetti for them.  Another time we did the build-your-own sushi thing.  If duty calls and I have everyone over (aside from New Years Day), I will make and serve crab lasagna.

This is a recipe which has been in my arsenal for years.  Its easy to make and it heats up nicely too.  The last time I made it, I posted a picture of it on facebook.  I received all kinds of requests for tastes (obviously these people are close by) and recipes.  One of my classmates posted a status update saying he and his children made this for his wife's birthday, and it was a huge hit.  That's the kind of stuff which makes me smile.

This was a super busy weekend for me.  D1 had a birthday party.  I can't remember the last time she had a bunch of friends over for her birthday, but her friends seemed to have a nice time.  D1 asked The Help to set up a "photo booth", and we bought a bunch of stick props from amazon, but the girls  just took a group picture. . .not much impromptu photo-boothing with just 1 or 2 at a time.  Oh well.

The only other "planned" activity was swimming.  I'm glad the weather held up.  In spite of it being December, the temperature yesterday hovered around 80 so the girls got to splash around.  The Help said I would've died if I had been around when he removed the pool corner guards (he has these contraptions in the corners of the deep end  to mitigate the effects of the vinyl from constant sun bombardment).  A whole bunch of geckos (the fleshy kine) had set up house behind the guards!

The party food was all stuff D1 requested:  spicy soybeans, tea eggs, somen inari, lumpia, crispy chicken, build-your-own-sushi, 7-layered jello, chocolate birthday cake.  The biggest hit was undoubtedly the crispy chicken.  It all went!  Mr. Dependable showed up with D2 and fed his face.  D2 shoved a bunch of somen inari in her mouth.  Mr. Dependable took notice of The Help's full-light photo booth set up.  I had to chuckle when The Help offered Mr. Dependable his services, "I can take professional photos of you and the other people in your office.  I have slimming software too!"  Bwahahaha.

A free collage by Smilebox

D1's cake was purchased from Short N Sweet, a local bakery.  I first sampled Short N Sweet goodies when they were a hole-in-the-wall place in Kohala.  A few years later, they moved in to Hilo, and The Help and I have been regular patrons.  The lemon cloud cookie is really ono.  One of my coworkers, RN, loves the banana roulade.  While D1's cake was not inexpensive, it was delicious!  The buttercream frosting was just sweet enough, and the chocolate cake was a deep, dark Devil's food.  In spite of the price, I will not hesitate to buy another cake from them. . .it's the kind of cake where you don't mind eating the leftovers.

This week is another busy week.  There is a football banquet this evening.  The coach invited us, and while we were not an official part of the football team, it would be hard not to attend.  The coach will be using about half of The Help's pictures in a slideshow.  I'm certain the boys will enjoy seeing their pictures.  The Help took some pretty wicked action shots of the boys.  His reputation as an action photographer has grown. . .kids who play other sports at school have asked D1 if "unko" could take pics of them.  In fact, boys who play football at OTHER schools, both on the Big Island and on ANOTHER ISLAND have asked D1 if "unko" can take pics of them!  The Help keeps insisting he is a FOOD photographer.

And not to be left out, D2 has a showcase dinner this week too.  She has been volunteering her time and assisting one of the after-school classes at her school.  She and her friend KN have been working with the lower-elementary students on various crafts.  The instructor has been kind enough to let D2 and KN make their own crafts too.  This past week, D2 brought home a self-contained red shrimp habitat in a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler bottle!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Crab Lasagna

     1/2 lb lasagna noodles (not "no boil" type)

     1 tsp olive oil

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     2 cans cream of mushroom soup

     1 lb crab meat

     16 oz cottage cheese

     1 onion, chopped

     1 egg

     1/2 tsp salt

     1-2 tbsp pesto (if unavailable, use 2 tsp minced, fresh basil)

     1 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

     1/4 c grated parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions, adding olive oil to boiling water.  Rinse and drain.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, soup (remove 1/4 c of soup and set aside), crab, cottage cheese, onion, egg, salt, and pesto.  Mix reserved soup with 1/4 c water.  Pour into 8 x 13" pan, spreading all over bottom of pan.  Layer 1/2 of noodles, 1/2 of crab mixture, and 1/2 if cheddar cheese.  Repeat.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.

Almost Thanh Long: Roasted Garlic Heaven

Three years ago, almost to the date, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to the Bay Area for the New Teacher Center Symposium.  (It had been Super Bowl weekend back then too, but I no longer get all hyped up, as age-wise, most of the players could be my sons.  I might have been called "cougar" at some point in my life, but even I have limits.)  One of the highlights of that trip was dinner at Thanh Long, a quasi-Vietnamese restaurant on Judah Street in San Francisco.

For years before, I had heard stories about the legendary roasted garlic crab served there.  I didn't give it too much thought because I grew up eating crab with a mayonnaise-shoyu dip.  But I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to try it.

The restaurant was nothing special in appearance, but the food (in addition to the roasted garlic crab, Co and I split a plate of garlic noodles) was out of this world good.  As soon as I got home, I searched the internet for a copycat recipe.  One of the blogs, Rasa Malaysia, had a copycat recipe, so I decided to give it a try.  Two years later, its become my go-to recipe for crab (and for garlic noodles too).

If you're ever in San Francisco, Thanh Long is a MUST try.  Their snooty sister restaurant, Crustacean, also serves crab, but the relaxed atmosphere of Thanh Long is more conducive to getting down and dirty with crab.  Trust me. . .with this crab, you will WANT to be in an environment where you can just dig in.

Rasa Malaysia's recipes for Roasted Garlic Crab and Garlic Noodles can be found here.  I use 1/4 the amount of black pepper because I don't usually care for pepper.  I've made the crab with both dungeness and king crab.  For ease, I prefer king crab.  My wallet prefers dungeness.   

The above link will take you to recipes for both roasted garlic crab and garlic noodles.  When I make roasted garlic crab, I always make the garlic noodles.  I'm not sure if its for nostalgic reasons or not, but it goes well with the crab and tastes so good.  The local Chinese store sells fresh noodles (Shandong Fresh Noodles), but spaghetti works great too.  I also try to have a baguette nearby for mopping up all the tasty sauce.

Uncle Edz

Although I've never tried it, extra jumbo shrimp could likely be used in place of the crab.  I know that Thanh Long serves garlic prawns, and my BFF tells me he prefers the prawns to the crab for ease of eating.  When it comes to eating, shopping and Trivial Pursuit, my BFF is hard to beat!

And while I do love cats, a jaguar is more my speed. . .a black one (preferably an XKR-S), especially if I was looking for something young, sleek, and ultra-hot!