Shared pleasures: Crab salad

Shared pleasures: Crab salad

By Angela Hartnett 00:02 15 May 2022, updated 00:02 15 May 2022

This salad could be either a great starter or a fantastic main event with bowls of fries. You could replace the baby gem with chicory or kohlrabi, or a mix of the three.

SERVES 4

400g white crab meat

a large bowl of ice

juice of 1½ limes

2 baby gem lettuce, leaves separated

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

a handful each of basil, mint and coriander, leaves and tender stems picked and chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

green chilli, sliced, to garnish (optional)

FOR THE MAYONNAISE

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp Dijon mustard

300ml vegetable oil

150g brown crab meat

½ lime

First, make the mayonnaise. Put the egg yolk, vinegar and mustard in a food processor and blitz lightly to combine.
Little by little, add the oil through the feed tube, mixing continuously as you do so, until the mixture emulsifies to form a loose mayonnaise. Add the brown crab meat and blitz the mixture together. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a good squeeze of lime juice. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Sit the white crab meat on a plate set into the bowl of ice and gradually pick through it to make sure there are no pieces of shell. Season with salt and pepper and a touch of lime juice.
Mix the salad leaves with the olive oil and remaining lime juice, then spread them across a large serving dish. Add the crab meat, dotting it all over the salad leaves. Sprinkle over the herbs and chilli then serve with the mayonnaise on the side.

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