Ba khia rang me makes a bold sour and sweet dish to pick at, with a glossy tamarind sauce clinging to every crab and firm, sweet meat inside. The difficulty is the cleaning, because ba khia live on mud flats and any grit left behind lands in the dish.
Fresh ba khia soak in water for about 30 minutes, then the shells and legs are scrubbed with a brush and the apron and the pointed tip on the belly are trimmed away. The tamarind liquid is pressed from 100g of ripe tamarind with 200ml warm water.
This batch weighs about 849g, at roughly 106 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak 500g fresh ba khia in water for about 30 minutes to release the mud, scrub the shells and legs with a brush, and trim off the apron and the pointed tip on the belly. If using the salted kind, which is very salty, blanch for 1 to 2 minutes and drain.
Mash 100g ripe tamarind with 200ml warm water and strain out the juice.
Make the sauce by combining the tamarind juice, 3 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon fish sauce and 1 teaspoon seasoning powder in a bowl, stirring until dissolved, then adjusting the sour, salty and sweet balance.
Set a pan with 3 tablespoons cooking oil, and once the oil is hot, fry 6 cloves minced garlic and 3 minced chilies until golden and fragrant.
Add the ba khia and stir through the garlic and chili, cooking for 5 to 7 minutes until firm.
Pour in the tamarind sauce, stir well, then simmer gently over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats every crab.
Once the sauce is glossy and the crabs have taken on color, turn off the heat, transfer to a plate, scatter over the fried shallots and serve hot with cucumber or Vietnamese coriander.
Tips
Live ba khia that move well, with a firmly attached apron and solid meat, make the best version of this dish.
A little sweet chili sauce or sate chili oil added during the frying deepens the flavor.
Straining the tamarind juice through a sieve takes out the fibers and seeds, giving a smooth sauce that coats evenly.
A gentle simmer at the final step matters, as high heat scorches the tamarind sauce and turns it bitter.
Scrub the shell and between the legs with a brush, since ba khia live in mud and the legs hold the most of it.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.