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!