Leek and Crab Maki
Whilst driving through the vineyards of Sancerre the other day, I heard a lovely recipe on French radio station “France Bleue Berry.” A lady chef from a local restaurant was talking about making Japanese Maki rolls using the white part of the leek instead of sheets of seaweed. This idea appealed to me not only because I love using leeks but also because I was making an Asian-inspired meal for a French chef friend of ours and this fit into the menu perfectly. I have adapted the original recipe somewhat because I couldn’t write it down while driving!
Leek and Crab Maki
This delicious take on a Japanese classic will delight your guests as an apéritif or a light starter. Serve with a crisp Sancerre rosé or white wine. Use the white part of the leek for this recipe and save the green for soup. I used Thai jasmine rice that I steamed in my Thermomix; sushi rice would of course work very well, too. Makes about 24 bite-sized pieces.
Ingredients
60 g white rice, uncooked weight (about 2 cups cooked)
the white part of one leek (a section about 6 inches / 15 cm long)
one tin of crab meat (112 g drained weight)
juice of half a lime
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
¼ tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
small bunch of fresh coriander
one red chilli, deseeded and cut into julienne strips about 1 inch / 2.5 cms long
To serve
your choice of dipping sauces
Method
- Cut the white part of the leek into sheets by running a knife halfway through to the centre, down the length of the leek. Separate each natural layer of the leek and blanch to soften. Cook the rice. (If you have a Thermomix, you can steam the leek sheets 5 minutes on the Varoma tray while you cook your rice in the internal steamer basket.) Plunge leek sheets into cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Mix together crab, lime juice, ginger, soy, rice wine vinegar and cooled cooked rice. Set aside.
- Pick off individual leaves of coriander and set aside.
- Drain leek sheets and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch/2.5cm strips. Spread with crab and rice mixture, dot with coriander leaves and red chilli strips, then roll up from the end into a spiral, like a Swiss roll or a jelly roll.
- Serve with your choice of dipping sauces.
Top tip:
My photos show 2-inch strips of leek and 2-bite sized maki. They were really messy and hard to eat! Therefore I think it is important to cut your strips into manageable widths to make bite-sized pieces. Please learn from my mistakes!
Bon appétit !
