Goi cua buoi starts from two sauces made in advance: pomelo fish sauce and coconut caramel sauce. The pink pomelo segments are full of juice, the coconut meat is crisp, and the crab sits on top in whole strands.
The hardest part is tossing the salad without bursting the pomelo into liquid. Both sauces are cooked in one large batch, cooled completely, then kept in sealed containers in the fridge. The crab stays separate and goes on at the very end, because tossing it through shreds the meat.
This batch weighs about 2kg, at roughly 47 calories per 100g.
Method
Make the coconut caramel sauce: put 49.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend in a heavy bottomed pot and heat it until it melts and takes on color. Add 4g minced garlic, 2g diced red horn chili and 1g chili powder, stir them through, then pour in 180ml boiling water.
Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes to bring it together, take it off the heat, and season with 30ml fresh lime juice and 5g sea salt. Cool it completely, then store it in a sealed container in the fridge.
Make the pomelo fish sauce: simmer 500g fish sauce with 720g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend over low heat until fully dissolved. Finely chop 100g garlic and 100g chili and stir them in only once the sauce has cooled.
Toss the salad: put 90g pink pomelo, 40g coconut meat, 5g rau ram leaves, 5g Thai basil, 5g perilla, 20g pomelo fish sauce, 10g calamansi juice and 5g coconut caramel sauce in a large bowl and toss gently. The cashews, fried shallots and crab stay out at this point.
Lift the mixture onto a plate, lay 75g crab meat over the top, and scatter with 5g cashew nuts, 5g fried shallots and a few herbs.
Tips
A full batch of coconut caramel sauce, cooled completely and sealed in the fridge, lasts through many plates.
A very light hand and crab laid on last keep the strands of meat whole.
Pomelo segmented and drained on a sieve for 10 minutes stops the salad from pooling liquid on the plate.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend does not darken much on its own as it melts, so a small spoon of nuoc hang (caramel sauce) deepens the color, with the heat lowered straight after.
The pomelo fish sauce can set when cold, and standing the jar in warm water and stirring brings it back clear.
The cashews and fried shallots go on as the plate leaves the kitchen, since they soften if added early.
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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.