Vietnamese Fried Soft Shell Crab with Ginger Tomato Salsa

For the Salsa:
1 TBS Vegetable Oil
1 TBS Chopped Garlic
1 TBS Red Chili, dried, crushed
1/4 cup Ginger, chopped fine
1/2 cup Orange Juice, fresh squeezed
1 cup Tomato, Chopped
1 TBS coriander

A:
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 TBS fish sauce
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper

Yield:
6 oz or 1 cup

Method:
Heat oil in pot, add garlic and chiles and cook until fragrant

Add ginger and OJ and reduce to half

Add tomato and 'A' ingredients

When sauce has reached desired consistency, remove from heat, and when cool - add coriander. Add more coriander to taste.

Soft Shell Crab:
3-4 whole crabs
2 egg whites
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika (for colour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Yield: one platter

Method:
Wash and clean crabs and pat dry

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and add the rest of the ingredients for batter

Dip each crab in batter and deep fry until golden (4-5 min)

Note: This batter yields a pretty thick final coating. I you desire a thinner one (or none at all) I would recommend dredging the crabs with the cornstarch and spices. Sprinkle with salt straight out of the oil.

Serve crab split into 2-4 pcs with cup of salsa for dipping.

Enjoy! The extra salsa is great with chips or gilled fish. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/278142