Niall Sabongi’s Crab on Toast

Niall Sabongi is one of Ireland’s leading chefs and fishmongers. His mission is to show people how easy it is to prepare and cook seafood.

Niall was born and raised by the sea. Growing up in Clontarf, he spent his childhood raking for cockles, picked mussels, catching mackerel. So it is no surprise Niall now owns two successful and well known seafood restaurants: Klaw and The Seafood Café in Dublin.

Niall wants seafood to be accessible for everyone through his business Sustainable Seafood Ireland (SSI).

You can avail of next day delivery via their website if ordered before 11am the previous day. There is an abundance of fresh seafood available from old school favourites like cod & salmon to less known but delicious and sustainable catches like megrim & brill. Fancy something a little more exotic, spider crabs and sea urchins have have been very popular. There is always a fish monger on hand.

SSI have two markets each week, from their warehouse in Clonshaugh in Dublin 17. You can choose from a wide variety of seafood and talk fish with one of our seasoned staff or Niall himself, strict social distancing measure have been implemented. That’s not all, there is delicious bread courtesy of Firehouse Bakery and fruit and veg boxes from Sean Hussey.

Crab on Toast

This is a customer favourite in Klaw and The Café. Super simple, packed with flavour and a great snack. The below recipe is using live crab but you could also use cooked meat from a good fishmonger, but ½ an hour on any peer in Ireland with a chicken wing on the end of a string will gain you a few brown beauties.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole brown Irish crab
• Dollop of mayo
• Lemon
• Tabasco
• Bunch of chives, roughly chopped
• Bunch of chervil, roughly chopped
• ½ cucumber, diced
• Sourdough bread
• Butter

Method:

1. To cook the crab – We always put ours into the freezer for 20 minutes beforehand so that they go into deep sleep before cooking. Add the now sleepy crab to heavily salted boiling water and cook with lid on for 8-10 minutes depending on the size (600g).
2. Grab yourself a little hammer, nut cracker and some sort of pick and begin the task of getting all the lovely white meat from the legs, claws and main body of the crab. Inside the brown shell of the crab you will find the amazing brown meat. Scoop this out with a spoon. While this job takes a little while, the results are so amazing and the flavour is so sweet compared to store bought. Plus, if you have kids this is great for them and will encourage them to try the sweet meat.
3. In a bowl, add the brown meat, mayo, squeeze of lemon and dash of tabasco then mix well. Leave aside in fridge until you’re ready.
4. In another bowl add all the white meat, chives, chervil and diced cucumber. Mix well.
5. Slice your sourdough and butter both sides of the slices, then place in warm pan over medium heat to toast on both sides. Once toasted you can assemble your dish.
6. To assemble, simply spread a bit of the brown meat mayo mixture on the warm buttered toast then top with your white crab mix. Serve with wedges of lemon and Tabasco in the side.