Soups & Salads
King Crab Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado
Description
This lovely seafood salad was an improvisation. "I made it with what I had in the house," Piero Incisa della Rocchetta recalls. "Scarcity breeds creativity." He uses grapefruit juice both to glaze the crab and to make the sweet
Ingredients
- 3 large red grapefruits
- 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 1 1/2 pounds cooked shelled king crab meat (2 1/2 pounds in the shell), cut into 3-by-1/2-inch pieces
- 2 Hass avocados—peeled, halved lengthwise and very thinly sliced
- 16 unsalted roasted almonds, cracked
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
Directions
- Using a sharp paring knife, peel the skin and bitter white pith from the grapefruits. Working over a bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the grapefruit sections. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the bowl; there should be 1/2 cup.
- In a bowl, mix the onion, soy sauce and lemon juice with 4 tablespoons of the oil. Stir in 1/4 cup of grapefruit juice from the bowl and season with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- In a skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the crab and cook over high heat, turning once, 30 seconds. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of grapefruit juice and cook until the crab is lightly caramelized, about 10 seconds. Remove from the heat.
- Arrange the grapefruit in shallow bowls. Layer the avocado on top, then the crab. Spoon the dressing over the crab, garnish with the almonds and cilantro and serve.
