Crab paste is a salty and flavorful condiment made from preserved crabmeat, commonly used in Asian cuisine. It can be used in soups, stews, curries, and sauces, and can substitute for anchovies and fish paste. Crab paste is made by salt-drying or wet-fermenting fresh crabmeat, and it has a high salt content that keeps it usable for a long time. Fermented foods like crab paste have been used as condiments for thousands of years, and Asian cuisine features a variety of fermented foods. Crab paste is a great way to start experimenting with fermented ingredients in Asian cooking.
Crab paste is a condiment made by salting and preserving crabmeat into a flavorful concentrate that can be used in a variety of dishes. The food is more associated with Asian cuisine, which features an assortment of preserved fish pastes and sauces. Many Asian grocery stores carry this condiment, as do some specialty purveyors. In addition to being used in Asian dishes, crab paste can also be used to flavor foods from other cultures and can substitute for anchovies, fish paste, and similar ingredients.
To make crab paste, fresh crabmeat is either salt-dried or wet-fermented with a large amount of salt to keep it free from bacteria. Once cured, it is packaged in tubes or containers that are typically designed to be resealed, as only a small amount of the paste is needed at a time. The high salt content keeps the pasta usable, as long as it is stored in a cool, dry place.
Soups, stews, curries and sauces throughout Asia use crab paste. It can also be used in marinades and dressings for a variety of foods. The intensely salty flavor goes a long way, so most cooks use this ingredient sparingly, in amounts that will enhance the flavor of the food without being overwhelming. When using fermented crabmeat, the paste will have a slightly sour taste, while dry salted crabmeat will have a cleaner flavor.
Fermented foods have been used as condiments for thousands of years, as salting and fermentation act as a preservative, allowing people to have access to foods year-round, rather than just in season. Some other examples of fermented condiments are soy sauce, sauerkraut and kimchi. Fermentation is also used as part of food processing such as coffee, chocolate, cheeses and of course beer and wine. As many observers have noted, fermented foods usually taste sour, and there can sometimes be a fine line between foods that have gone bad and foods that are still edible.
Asian cuisine in particular features an array of fermented foods, and crab paste is a fairly tame representative of this food group. Others have much more pungent and intense flavors that some Westerners don’t appreciate, even though many Asians have acquired a taste for these unique flavors. Starting with crab paste is a great way to start experimenting with the wide range of interesting fermented ingredients in Asian cooking.
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