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A simple crab cocktail with big flavor

To me, a great recipe for a romantic dinner, (or any dinner) should involve simplicity in the preparation and balance in the final flavor. When my friend and cookbook author Jill Silverman Hough showed me her recipe for a sent Five-Spice Crab Cocktail, I begged her to let me share it on the site. This recipe has it all. Not only is it an easy crab recipe to prepare and feature bold but balanced flavors but it also is a recipe layered with aphrodisiac ingredients. In fact, it has everything you would want from a romantic dinner.

The recipe was originally published in Jill’s book, 100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Serve with Wines You Love. (If you’re looking for appetizer ideas or inspiration for tapas-style meals, I highly recommend you get the whole book.) This simple crab dish blends the flavors of fresh, lump crab meat with several of the “warming” spices. It is an unusual pairing and one that surprises and delights anyone who tries it. Best of all, you don’t even need cocktail sauce!

Can you make this recipe with canned crab?

The short answer is preferably not. Canned crab can be a great product. If you like seafood, I recommend keeping a can on hand. But in a recipe meant to showcase the delicate flavor of fresh crab like this one, trying to substitute with canned crab will never give you quite the fresh seafood taste you imagine. If possible, I recommend saving that can of crab to use in heavier dishes like quiche, soups and crab rangoon. However, if you don’t have access to a good fishmonger and canned crab is your only choice, this seafood cocktail will still make a tasty dish.

What is five-spice powder?

Five-spice powder is a spice blend most commonly found in Chinese and Taiwanese cooking. It is designed to awaken all five tastes, sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami all at the same time. You can make your own five-spice powder but you can also buy pre-blended, bottled five-spice powder in the spice section of your favorite grocery or Asian food store.

Order five-spice Powder online

As you might already have guessed, I’m obsessed with the aphrodisiac qualities of Five-Spice Powder. (After all, it truly is a blend of five historically noted aphrodisiacs. These include cinnamon; star anise; fennel; black pepper and clove.) When used sparingly – and this spice blend is best used sparingly – its beautiful balance of sweetness and spice can transform ordinary ingredients like chicken or quinoa, or in this case, crab, into a complex, taste bud tingling, body warming masterwork of flavor.

Why you should serve this recipe on date night

In this crab recipe, Jill uses the aphrodisiac spice blend to bring a unique brightness and allure to steamed, lump crabmeat. (Like all crustaceans, crab is considered an aphrodisiac.)

Comments Jill, “If you’re looking for an elegant way to start a meal, look no further. These crab cocktails are super-simple to make. But because the recipe features an indulgent ingredient, crab, it feels sophisticated and special occasion. Ideally, I recommend using fresh crab from a good fishmonger. But canned crab will work as well if you can’t get great fresh crab.”

What wine do you pair with this seafood cocktail?

Incidentally, this recipe is from the Viognier chapter of 100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Serve with Wines You Love. If you really want to bring the experience of this dish to life, pair it with a beautiful bottle of floral Viognier, like Raft Wines Jonquille.

TO TRY: Check out all of our seafood recipes

Five-Spice Crab Cocktail in a fancy Champagne coupe with a glass of white wine in the background

Five-Spice Crab Cocktails

Print Recipe

If you’re looking for an elegant way to start a meal, look no further. This cocktail is super simple to make, but because it features an indulgent ingredient, crab, it feels sophisticated and special occasion. Ideally, use fresh crab from a good fishmonger, but canned crab will work as well. The dish is great on its own, but with a chilled bottle of Viognier, it’s a knock-out—one of those delicious situations where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings 4

Author Jill Silverman Hough

Ingredients

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp fresh lemon juice or more to taste
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder plus more for garnish (see below)
12 oz cooked lump crab meat picked over
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley plus leaves for garnish
2 tbsp minced shallot

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and five-spice powder. Set aside. (You can prepare the mayonnaise mixture up to 3 days in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)
In a medium bowl, combine the crab, chopped parsley, and shallot. Add about 2 tablespoons of the mayonnaise mixture, gently tossing to combine. Taste, ideally with your wine, and add more lemon juice if you like.
Spoon the crab mixture into decorative glasses. Top with the remaining mayonnaise mixture, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle with a dash of five-spice powder, garnish with the parsley leaves, and serve.

Notes

NOTE: Chinese five-spice powder is available in either the spice section or the ethnic or Asian section of most major supermarkets. Besides using it in this recipe, you can sprinkle it on roasted meats and vegetables and stir it into rice.

crab photo by Lucy Schaeffer

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Amy Reiley

Eat Something Sexy's Creator & Editor-in-Chief Amy Reiley is the award-winning author of five aphrodisiac cookbooks. She has her Master of Arts in Gastronomy, awarded by Le Cordon Bleu and The University of Adelaide.

Amy is considered a leading authority on aphrodisiacs. Her work in aphrodisiacs is quoted in publications including National Geographic, The New York Times, Epicurious, Wine Enthusiast, Health and Playboy magazines. She speaks internationally on aphrodisiac foods and has brought her knowledge of aphrodisiac history and science to national television shows including The Today Show and CBS Early Show. She is a frequent guest on relationship and lifestyle radio and podcast shows and has been interviewed by BBC and NPR radio, Cosmopolitan radio and popular podcasts including My Dad Wrote a Porno.

Amy is also a freelance food, wine and health researcher and writer as well as a wine competition judge. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from Variety to The Daily Meal. She is an MSN content provider. And she is also a former wine editor for Gayot.com and wine & spirits editor of Las Vegas magazine.

Fun fact: Amy was the creator of the first ever comprehensive food and wine apps, Amy Reiley's Pocket Gourmet and Amy Reiley's Pocket Vineyard for Palm.

Easy Five-Spice Crab Cocktail Recipe