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Warm salad of samphire, asparagus and crab

Matt Tebbutt recipe

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
less than 10 mins

Serves
Serves 4

By Jack Stein
From Saturday Kitchen

 

Ingredients

For the Asparagas Salad:

Cooked brown crab: 1.25–1.5 kg (2 lb 12 oz–3 lb 5 oz)
Olive oil (for poaching): 300 ml (½ pt)
British asparagus: 350 g (12 oz)
Samphire (picked over and washed): 225 g (8 oz)
Garlic (finely chopped): ¼ clove
Extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for serving): 2 tbsp
Lemon juice (about 2 tsp, juice only from ¼ lemon)
Fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped): 1 tbsp
Parmesan shavings (for garnish)
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

For the Cucumber Pickle:

Cucumber (deseeded and chopped): ½ cucumber
Cider vinegar: 100 ml (3½ fl oz)
Miso paste: 1 tbsp
Caster sugar: 10 g (½ oz)
Salt : pinch of salt
Five Spice Powder: pinch

Alternative Ingredients
  1. Asparagus: If you’d like to switch up the asparagus, consider using green beans or sugar snap peas.
  2. Samphire: If you don’t have samphire, try substituting it with blanched green beans or even baby spinach.

Method

  1. Remove the meat from the crab and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan to 150C/300F (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended).

  2. Snap off and discard the woody ends from the asparagus where they break naturally. Cut each asparagus stalk in half. Poach the asparagus in the olive oil for 3–4 minutes, then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon.

  3. Meanwhile, break off and discard the woody ends of the samphire and break the rest into 2½cm/1in pieces. Add the samphire to the asparagus oil and poach for 1 minute. Drain and then tip into a bowl. Add the garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, toss together lightly and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

  4. To make the cucumber pickle, place all the ingredient plus 50g/1¾oz water into a saucepan and warm through. Use immediately or leave for a few hours in the fridge.

  5. Divide the asparagus and samphire between four plates and arrange pieces of the white crab meat and a little of the brown meat over the top. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, drizzle over a little more olive oil and season with a few sea salt flakes. Scatter over the Parmesan shavings and serve and serve with the cucumber pickle.

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