Blue Crab Duck Egg Tenshinhan (Japanese Crab Omelette Over Rice)

Summer is officially here and I took the kids (and one husband) down to the docks by our house for crabs. I live on the South Shore of Long Island where blue claws are bountiful between the end of June and the beginning of September. During the day, they stick to the side of the docks and wenet them up (or pull them in with some chicken legs on string.) At night, they float like creepy rubber duckies on the surface of the water and we scoop them up, one by one.

A half dozen or so later (all sweet and fat males), and we called it a day. Among the things I plan to make with crabs this year is Tenshinhan, a Japanese crab omelette that’s set over rice, with a sweet and sour tomato based sauced. The biggest issue is actually picking out the crab meat—it’s a lot of work for about a cup and a half of crab. I can see why it’s traditionally made with imitation crab instead.

My ducks are laying, and the chives in my garden are still going strong. I garnished it with a string bean that I grew in the garden, for some crunchy texture. Sometimes I find crabs kind of strong, so when I’m steaming them, I add a splash of sake which cuts down on the flavor and brings out the sweetness. I used all of the crab because I never do things by halves, but you can put as much or as little as you would like. If you’re going to use duck eggs, double the amount of milk to keep it soft and fluffy because duck eggs have less water content than chicken eggs. I like it while it’s still runny and custardy, so I take it off the heat before it’s set.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup blue claw meat or imitation crab stick, shredded
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon scallion or chives
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon corn starch + 2 tablespoon water (made into a slurry)
• 1 bowl of cooked white rice

1. Beat the eggs and the milk together and fold in crab meat, scallions, ginger, and salt and pepper.
2. In a pan oiled with vegetable oil, cook the egg mixture until desired consistency over medium high heat. Place omelette on top of rice.
3. In a sauce pan, combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, mirin, and corn starch slurry together and bring to a boil until thickened. Pour over omelette and serve.