Chilli crab on toast with salted black bean and shrimp dressing

Use fresh crab meat from the fishmonger if you can, because the taste and texture will be superior.

PREPARATION TIME 30 minutes, plus soaking and chilling

COOKING TIME about 20 minutes SERVES 2

100g fresh white crab meat 1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Zest 1 lemon

100g samphire

25g butter

2 slices sourdough bread Lemon wedges, to serve

FOR THE SALTED BLACK BEAN AND SHRIMP DRESSING

50g each fermented black beans and dried shrimps

3½tbsp olive oil

Juice 1 lemon

1 handful fresh coriander, chopped, plus a few fresh sprigs to serve FOR THE SON-IN-LAW EGGS

2 eggs

30g plain flour

500ml rapeseed oil 1 Start with the dressing. Soak black beans in water for about 15min. Put dried shrimps in a bowl and cover with hot (not boiling) water. Leave to soak for about 15min until shrimps have doubled in size and are soft to touch.

2 Meanwhile, prepare chilli crab. Gently pick through crab meat to make sure there are no shell fragments. Tip it into a bowl and add chillies, spring onions and lemon zest. Season with salt and black pepper and mix until combined. Cover and chill until needed.

3 Once beans have soaked, rinse and pat dry with kitchen paper. Drain shrimps and pat dry with kitchen paper.

4 Whisk olive oil and lemon juice together in a bowl. Add coriander along with shrimps and black beans and gently mix together. Set aside.

5 Bring a pan of water to the boil, add samphire and blanch for about 30sec. Drain, refresh under cold water and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

6 For the son-in-law eggs: Get a small pan of water boiling and add eggs. Cook for 6min, then refresh under running cold water. While still a little warm, peel them, then keep in cold water until needed. Put flour into a bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Remove an egg from the water and carefully shake off excess water. Roll it in flour to coat. Put on a plate lined with kitchen paper; repeat with other egg. Put rapeseed oil in a small, heavy-based pan – it needs to be deep enough to cover eggs so that they float and don’t sit on the bottom. Heat oil over medium heat to 170°C. Add floured eggs to oil and cook for 3-4min, turning often to get an even golden colour. Once golden, remove from pan using a slotted spoon and put on to kitchen paper to drain.

7 Melt butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Gently sauté samphire for a min until warmed through.

8 Toast bread and arrange on two plates. Put half the warm samphire on top of each slice of toast and put chilli crab mixture on top. Spoon dressing over crab. Cut son-in-law eggs in half and arrange on top of chilli crab. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with a lemon wedge.