Trinidadian Crab Backs is a traditional Trinidadian (from Trinidad and Tobago) recipe for a classic dish of crab back shells stuffed with a blend of fried crab meat, bell peppers, chives, onion, chilli and breadcrumbs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Trinidadian version of: Trinidadian Crab Backs.
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Though this dish is prepared throughout the Caribbean it's probably best known from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
In essence, the recipe gives a Caribbean twist to Victorian dressed crab. (See the Mrs Beeton recipe for to dress crab and the modern Canadian version of dressed crab for the Victorian recipe and a modern evolution of it.) The recipe given here can be made from fresh or tinned crab meat (though fresh crab meat always gives the best flavour).
Ingredients:
500g fresh crab meat or 3 x 170g tins of crab meat
4 tbsp butter
1 large onion
2 tsp chives, chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp fresh hot chilli pepper, very finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
100g breadcrumbs
8 crab back shells, cleaned, boiled and dried
Method:
Place a large heavy-based frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Once hot add the butter and when foaming use to fry the onion and bell peppers for about 4-5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the chopped chives and allow to just wilt.
At this point add the crab meat, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and chilli. Toss the mixture in the pan over low heat using a wooden spoon.
Add the breadcrumbs, stirring to thoroughly combine all the ingredients in the pan. Spoon the mixture evenly between the eight empty crab shell backs.
Dot each crab back with butter then place them under a hot grill, cooking until golden brown.
Serve immediately.
A classic variation would be to add a sprinkle of grated cheese on top of the crab backs before grilling for a cheesy twist.
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