7-Step Course Recipe Connecting an Appetizer to Fried Rice with One Crab

To stretch one crab into multiple dishes, it’s important to know when to divide the ingredients rather than the number of menu items. If you cut everything from the start and throw it into a stew, the roles of the meat, innards, and shells will only end up as one. On the other hand, the thick meat of the steamed crab can be used in a cold appetizer and rice, while the smaller pieces can go in pancakes and noodles, with the shells being used for stock, creating a variety of textures from a small amount.

This menu does not aim to make seven large dishes like an actual banquet. Instead, it's structured so that 2-4 people can prepare one or two crabs and sample small amounts in the order of appetizer, broth, steamed dish, noodles, pancake, rice, and finishing touch. Remember to distinguish between tools for handling raw crabs and those for cooked food, and store the separated meat and innards cold until needed.

The key to the course is not to use a lot of crab, but to place the advantages of each part in different dishes. Start with a clear appetizer and broth to open the palate, showcase the core flavor of the crab in the steamed dish and noodles, then use smaller pieces in pancakes and fried rice to keep the flow natural. If your group is small, it’s sufficient to skip either the appetizer or pancake and just keep the broth, steamed dish, and rice stages.

Separate the portions you’ll use immediately after preparing and those you’ll use later, keeping them in the fridge, and do not leave the finished dishes out for too long at room temperature. For the shell broth, boil it thoroughly and strain it through a fine sieve to remove bits, and avoid using innards that have any strange smells or colors. Using every bit of the crab is great, but forcing down parts that raise safety concerns isn’t being thrifty.