White crab, quick-pickled
radishes and nasturtium
The beauty of this elegantly simple and fabulously flavoured dish is the contrast between the vinegar bite of the quick-pickled radishes, the salty crab and peppery nasturtium. It is served here piled onto toasted sourdough, but could also be served with diced new potatoes or salad leaves.
Quick-pickling is a great way of achieving flavour lift with fruits or vegetables.Try this idea with cucumber or courgettes too. The lightness and sweetness of the Moscatel vinegar makes it perfect for quick-pickling. If you can’t get hold of nasturtium leaves, try peppery rocket instead. Or just add plenty of black pepper to the crab mix.
To serve: 4
Time: 10 mins (plus resting time for the radishes to quick-pickle)
50g radishes
50ml Barbadillo Vinagre de Jerez Reserva al Moscatel
1 tbsp white sugar
an orange
300g white crab meat
75g creme fraiche
30g nasturtium leaves
4 sourdough bread slices
75ml extra virgin olive oil
1 mint sprig
Begin by quick-pickling the radishes: remove the ends of the radishes than slice them thinly. Put into a bowl. Heat the vinegar and the sugar in a small pan along with 25ml water, heating just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Then pour over the radishes, adding a broad strip of orange zest into the bowl too. Set aside for 30 minutes or up to an hour.
Mix the crab meat with the creme fraiche, chopped nasturtium leaves, a squeeze of juice from the orange and salt to taste.
When ready to serve: toast the sourdough and then drizzle over the olive oil. Give each slice a scatter of salt flakes, spoon on the crab meat, then top with the quick-pickled radishes. Spoon over some of the pickling liquor and scatter over the chopped mint. Eat straight away.
