Cauliflower Fried Rice with Fresh Crab (Keto)

The problem with cauliflower fried rice is that it doesn’t taste very good.  Crustaceans appear to be one of the few saviors of this low carb option, and this crab version is much needed a godsend.

For more one pan recipes, check out this Japanese baked salmon, Vietnamese “fried” fish, or Morimoto’s favorite clams.

Do you actually like cauliflower fried rice?

In addition to being wet, most cauliflower fried rice is bland.

The first and last time I ordered this at a restaurant, I literally spit it out of my mouth.  You can’t serve this to people, I thought.

Yet, cauliflower remains all the rage, since it is low carb wonder vegetable that can wear many flavors like tofu.

What is keeping you from cauliflower fried rice

You may have had terrible experiences with cauliflower rice for the following reasons:

1. You don’t want to make a mess in the food processor pulverizing the cauliflower
2. Why not just eat cauliflower in regular sized pieces?
3. Cauliflower fried rice does not taste at all like fried rice.
4. Soy sauce makes it brown and even more unappetizing.

Yet, if you’re trying to eat less rice in life (perhaps to lose weight), cauliflower rice is low carb, healthy option.

And fresh Dungeness crab actually makes it palatable.

Crab 911

At a fine dining restaurant I used to work at, one of the signature dishes was a cauliflower puree with sauteed scallops.  For that reason, I always think of cauliflower and seafood together, forever.

There’s really nothing that crab can’t make better if you’re willing to pay for it.

Fresh Dungeness crabs are available on the West Coast from November through June, depending on when they open and close the commercial fishing season each year.

Cost ranges from $6-10 per pound.  One crab usually weighs 2-2 1/2 pounds and yields about 1 1/2 – 2 cups of crabmeat.

How to cook fresh crab

To cook a fresh crab, put in a pot with water to cover about 1/3 of the crab, bring to a boil, and cook with the lid on for 15 minutes.  Remove from the pot and cool.

You could add old bay seasoning, lemons, wine, or other seasonings, but at it’s very basic, water works just fine.

To get the crab meat out of the crab, there is not really a shortcut except for patience, gentle cracking, and picking as much meat out without residual pieces of shell.

This video from the Great British Chefs may help.

Packaged crabmeat

Alternately, you can buy already picked Dungeness crabmeat if you don’t mind the cost from 20-$30 per pound.

Crabmeat from Vietnam or other countries comes packed in cans for about $10 per pound, but I haven’t found these cans to have much flavor.

Ingredients

• Oil – to stir fry the cauliflower in
• Dungeness crabmeat – or other crab meat.  Pick through the meat to ensure there are no shells.
• Cauliflower rice – I skip the mess of making it at home and use frozen cauliflower rice
• Egg whites – This keeps the entire dish mostly white
• Green onions – We’ll use the green part for color and the white part to stir fry with the rice for mild onion flavor
• Grassfed Butter – to finish the rice, and it goes so well with seafood
• Mushroom seasoning – This will really help make your cauliflower taste not so bland

The Process

Step #1: Mis en Place

Get all the ingredients in place before they go into the pot.

• Pick through crab meat to discard any shells
• Slice green onion, keeping the white and green parts separate
• Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs
  • Save the yolks for an egg scramble or custard

Step #2: “Dry out” the cauliflower rice

This is the annoying part.

Cauliflower rice, especially the frozen kind, has so much water.

You need to cook it out by letting as much of the moisture evaporate as possible.

This can take anywhere form 5-10 minutes over medium high heat.  All the while keep stirring the pot so it doesn’t burn.

I also add the salt and mushroom seasoning at this time to help draw out excess water and season the cauliflower.

Step #3: Cook the egg

Once you have as much of the water removed from the cauliflower as possible, make a well in the center of the pan.

Add the egg whites and stir them in that little well until cooked through.

If some cauliflower rice falls into the well, that is fine.

Step #4: Add crab

Add the crabmeat and white part of the green onion to the pot and cook to heat through about 2-3 minutes.

Note that if you stir too much, you’ll draw out the red color from the crab meat.  They’ll start leaching into the rice and turn it pinkish.

Step #5: Finish with butter

Turn off the heat, and gently mix in a pat of butter.

Season with a little white pepper if you like that flavor.

Serve hot, but it also tastes pretty good at room temperature.

Put on the plate just before serving, since it will continue to leach liquid as it sits.

Tips to make it better @ home

1. To cook your own fresh crabs for crabmeat, bring to a boil in a pot with some water. Cook for 15 minutes covered. Remove, let cool, and remove the meat.
2. To make your own cauliflower fried rice, pulverize pieces of cauliflower in a food processor until you have small rice sized pieces.  For less mess, use frozen cauliflower rice.
3. As with most fried rice recipes, use a nonstick pan, well seasoned wok, or cast iron skillet to avoid food sticking to the pan.
4. The trick to cauliflower fried rice is getting it dry.  Try to cook off as much of the moisture in the rice as possible before it starts burning in the pan.
5. The longer you mix the crab in the pot, the red color will start to leach out and turn the cauliflower rice pink.
6. Plate just before serving.  The cauliflower fried rice will likely continue to release liquid making the plate wet.
7. This almost like a vegetable-seafood stir fry.  To make it more heavy on carbs, substitute half of the cauliflower for brown rice.

Related Low Carb Seafood Recipes

Vietnamese “Fried” Fish with Tomato Sauce (Cá Chiên Sðt Cà)

Legit Hawaiian Poke – No Soy Sauce Necessary

Morimoto Inspired Manila Clams Recipe