Having a severe case of homesickness over the weekend, I decided to attempt re-create one of my favourite Philippine Dishes. Crabs with “Alavar Sauce” . I am sure that outside the Philippines there aren’t many people familiar with the Alavar sauce. Some bloggers have referred to it previously, here and here. It’s a thick coconut gravy made with (I believe) roasted coconut milk and “secret” spices.
The recipe for this sauce is even more guarded than any national security secret so it was difficult to know where to begin recreating it. I decided to keep it simple and stick with the basic ingredients found in most Philippine cuisine – of course there was the “holy trinity” – onion, garlic and ginger and then coconut milk. Not just any coconut milk, but it had to be made from roasted coconut. And from there I added a few bits and pieces and came up with something pretty close -not yet there but just as delicious!
Note: For this recipe I made my own roasted coconut milk. Halfway through the process, I found myself muttering that I would never do it again. If you find the process below too tedious, don’t do it. Simply substitute with 250 ml coconut milk. But trust me, it is well worth it.
Procedure for Roasted Coconut Milk: It was a bit of a struggle because you first have to crack open a mature coconut (we call it niyog in the Philippines, it is the one with the brown outer shell). Once open you then have to crack the coconut down even further by placing it in a plastic bag, covering it with a tea towel and bashing as hard as you can with a hammer. Then, you have to try and pry the coconut pieces away from the shell (I used a sharp knife but I really would not recommend it because you can easily get hurt and I have battle scars on my hands to prove it). Once you have your meat, grind it through a food processor until coarsely ground and then toast over a pan, stirring constantly until it begins to release a fragrant coconut smell and starts to turn golden brown.
Return the toasted coconut to the food processor and add around 1 cup of hot water and grind until very fine. Place a sieve covered with a muslin over a bowl and pour the coconut on the sieve. Squeeze the muslin to extract as much milk as possible. This is called the roasted coconut milk.
Recipe (serves 2)
- 2 spanner crabs, cleaned
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons crushed ginger
- 2 tablespoons crushed garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 large red chilies, chopped
- 250 ml roasted coconut milk
- 250 ml canned coconut milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat the oil and saute the onions over medium heat until translucent and soft, around 10 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant, a minute or two.
- Then add the turmeric and fresh chilies. Add the roasted coconut milk (if using, otherwise, add a total of 500 ml regular coconut milk) and season to taste.
- For a smoother sauce, blend using a hand held stick blender. This is optional.
- Lastly, add the spanner crabs and cook for around 7 to 10 minutes until the crab meat is cooked through.
Try adding peanut butter…
We had fresh coconut milk while in Indonesia and the guy opening those things used a huge huge knife to do that! I applaud you for even trying to open the smaller version of the coconut… but still.. they are such difficult things to handle! The dish looks delicious though… Not sure about roasting the coconut though.. lol
Wow I’m so impressed you made your own roasted coconut milk! It always sounds like so much effort that I can never be bothered doing it. Where did you get your coconut grater from?
I remember my dad using a screwdriver and a hammer to crack the coconut open. Can you use dried coconut and roast that?
It seems that both of us had a hard time with the coconuts! hehehee… I borrowed the coconut grater but I wonder if I can get it from Bali – will it be considered as a dangerous weapon to bring in? Try ebay?
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Trissalicious: New Post on Spanner Crabs with Coconut Sauce. My favourite “secret” sauce from the Philippines http://bit.ly/alavar…
Aha! So this is what you needed the coconut grater for! It looks totally worth it! 😀
I miss eating this one. The family doesn’t like crabs with sauces as they find it hard to eat them. Can’t go wrong with coconuts and with crabs, oh they’re super yummy. Good thing we have someone doing all the hard work for in getting the coconut meat out but I salute you for doing a job well done. 🙂
these are the food that makes my waist expand..heehee. More rice please.
Oh my, this looks so good I’d crabwalk through coconut shells to get to some!
We have a horse. The coconut horse I call it. You get on it and save the coconut. I used to get paid 10 bucks for 10 coconuts. Boy it was hard work. I love crab and my mum cooks this when she gets good crabs from Cabramatta. Delicious
Hehe Kath – can I pay you to grate 10 coconuts for me? Please find out where I can buy one of those things!
When were these made and why was I not invited to taste test?! Especially since I was the one who kept hounding you to replicate this sauce?!
Ooohh roasting your own coconut milk? THAT’S MAD SKILLS WOMAN!!! Mmmm i love ginataang alimango……
lol with all the secret recipes! Look good. Roasted coconut milk… this is something new to me.
This looks wonderful! I hope there is excess sauce for greedy mopping up with bread or rice as well =)