Hey you all!
If you are following me on social media, you very well know by now that I got to meet MasterChef George Calombaris at World On a Plate International Food Festival. I have always looked forward to every season of MasterChef Australia only for him! 😀 His accent is something I could play on repeat mode and his cooking makes me go weak in the throat knee.
While I was there for the Masterclass, George shared a recipe of his classic Soft Shell Crab Souva (Souvlaki) which I’m sharing with you all 🙂 
So there are different portions of this dish to be made in order to create this dish – Smoked Mayonnaise, Picked mint and Coriander, Soft Shell Crab, Pickled Cucumber and Paratha Bread. I’ll break them down so that it’s easier to understand 🙂 Smoked Mayonnaise: Ingredients you need:
- Sunflower Oil ( 1 liter)
- Pasteurized egg yolks ( 100 to 200 gm)
- White wine (50 ml)
- Salt to taste
- Smoking chips (100 gm)
Method:
- Place the sunflower oil in a large gastro. Sunflower oil is easily available at departmental stores or you can buy sunflower oil online as well if you are one of those who shop online for grocery
- In a smoking gun/smoker light the chips and smoke the oil
- Allow the oil to cool and blend the egg yolk with the white wine vinegar
- Gradually emulsify in the oil until a thick mayonnaise is formed
- Add the salt and store in piping bags in the fridge.
Picked mint and Coriander: Picked mint and coriander is nothing but picking fresh mint and coriander and washing them to use when needed. Soft Shell Crab Ingredients needed:
- Soft Shell Crab (150 – 200 gm)
- Rich Flour ( 70 to 80 gm)
- Tapioca Flour ( 70 to 80 gm)
- Curry powder (70 to 80 gm )
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Mix rice flour, curry powder, tapioca flour and salt evenly and set aside
- Defrost the crab and wash
- Remove the helmet of the crab and set aside to dryDredge the crab into the flour
- Dredge again just before frying
Pickled cucumber Ingredients you need:
- Continental cucumbers thinly sliced (1 kg)
- White wine vinger (100 ml)
- Sugar (500 gm)
- Dill (100 gm)
- Fennel seeds (50g)
- Coriander seeds (50g)
- Cumin seeds (25g)
Method:
- Heat the vinegar and sugar in a pan until all the sugar has dissolved
- Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds
- Allow to cool and add the dill
- Pour over the cucumber and leave to steep for 24 hours
- Drain off liquid and store in the fridge
Paratha Bread Paratha bread ( 1000 portions of 6 inch in diameter 2cm high) The best part about cooking any dish is how to assemble all these together
- Fry the crab at 200 degrees centigrade
- Grill the bread until warm and soft
- Using a squeezy bottle, squeeze roughly 10g of the mayonnaise over the Paratha in a side to side motion
- Place 10g of cucumber down the middle of the bread
- Tear a handful of coriander and mint over the bread
- Place the crab in the center and roll
- Place the brown pre rolled Souva paper
And with that, Soft Shell Crab Souva is ready! 😀 I hope you can try this dish that George taught at the World On a Plate MasterClass 🙂 It was so wonderful meeting George Calombaris and you can already see that from the wide smile on my face! ♥ It’s an experience I would remember always.
A photo posted by Princy Mascarenhas (@thejeromydiaries) on
So…who is your favourite chef? Let us know in the comments below 🙂
PC – @sartorialsecrets
