Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was Dad’s birthday a while back but we were not able to celebrate with him as they had a wedding to attend and we had a wedding to attend. Finally we were able to celebrate with him last week and someone was feeling rather crabby (no, not in a bad way, but more like, “I want some crabby in my tummy” way). So I loaded up all 4 kids 
and off we went to T&T Supermarket.
We picked out 6 crabs, one for each person.
Some water spinach and baby bok choy.
Mom made some fish maw soup. In this recipe they used shredded chicken but we like to use shredded crab meat.
This is a popular soup when you go to Chinese restaurants and order a set meal. The fish maw is quite spongy in texture. I’m not a big fan of it cause honestly, I can’t stand the texture. I usually spoon them out and just drink the soup.
Be sure to give the crab a good scrub before you cook them.
Scrub a dub dub, in (not) my tub 
.
I made mine and Dad’s fave, water spinach with fermented tofu/bean curd sauce. You can find the recipe here.
I also made abalone with dried scallops and mushrooms atop baby bok choy. You can find my recipe here. Except in that recipe I used snow pea tendrils. Yes, I know, I have to get organized and put up a recipes page.
We steamed our crabs and made our usual dipping sauce, which is a mixture of chopped garlic, Chinese red vinegar, and Chinese rice vinegar. Another great dipping sauce for steamed crab or other seafood would be fresh lime or lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Waiting for the other three crabs to finish steaming.
And “sake fan”. In Chinese that’s what we say at the dinner table before starting a meal.
My brother and sister in-law joined us as well but they didn’t want to be in the picture.
Cheers Dad!
K wanted in on the action too 
.
What’s a birthday without gifts right? Well I’m happy to say that a representative from CSN Stores contacted me and asked if I wanted to choose a product to keep for free and do a review for them, or host a giveaway on my blog. I figured, what better way to say thank you to my readers and show how much I appreciate you all dropping in to stalk read my blog, than to have a giveaway? So the kind people at CSN Stores is giving me the opportunity to giveaway a $40 gift certificate to one of my lucky readers. Aww shucks, thanks CSN Stores!
So do you have a baby or kids in your house? How about a student or a pet? No matter what you have and who you live with, this store has everything for everyone. Even if you’re just looking for some housewares or home decor, this is your one stop shop. Here’s how you can enter:
Mandatory:
- Leave me a comment telling me what you would be interested in buying at CSN Stores.
For extra entries you can:
- tweet about this giveaway and include “@lynnchenrocks AKA luvtoeat” in your tweet and come back to leave me a comment telling me you did so.
- link to this giveaway somewhere on your blog and come back to leave me a comment (plus your link) telling me you did so..
- comment and tell me what’s your favorite way to eat/cook crab.
When you enter your comments, please be sure to enter an email where I can reach you at when you win. The email will only be visible to me and will not show up in your comment. If I am unable to reach you through email within 72 hours after announcing the winner, I will have to choose another winner. The giveaway will end Tuesday August 3rd at 11:00 pm standard mountain time. Thank you for entering, and best of luck to everyone! Until next time friends and family .
Happy Belated Birthday to your dad! Looks like you guys had a great time with another fabulous family meal.
Happy Birthday to your dad! What better way to celebrate than with crab? You are definitely an adventurous eater and cook because I am not sure if I could handle crab unless the it looked nothing like it did when it was swimming in the ocean.
I am a bit squeamish when it comes to things like that!
I would love to win a food processor. Can you believe I don’t have one? I’ve been resisting because I really don’t have space, but a nice, small one would be a great addition to my kitchen!
I’d use it to get a new yoga mat and carrying bag! They have some REALLY cute ones with great patterns. Maybe a crab pattern, lol.
I would love to get my daughter a step 2 easel off the csn toy site for my daughter for her birthday…
That looks like quite a spread! I’m glad you got the chance to celebrate your dad’s birthday.
I would get a kitchen appliance, such as a hand blender.
Another kitchen appliance…I like trying something new.
Wooohooo…what a feast! I like that everything you are using is huge. The pot to cook soup is huge. The sink is huge. The container in which you clean the veggies is huge. And my appetite is huge RIGHT NOW!
I would certainly like a new stainless steel wok to do my cooking…and maybe a coffee maker to make fresh brew everyday
Looks like your dad had a pretty good belated Birthday celebration! I cant get over how big the crabs are!!
They look like theyre bigger than my head!
I would LOVE one of the aprons that CSN has – the Flirty Aprons are my favorites. But count me out of the giveaway. I did just get a breadmaker from CSN, and I dont want to be selfish!
Happy belated Birthday to your Dad. Those crabs look huge and delicious.
What a fabulous way to celebrate a birthday! I love that your family cooks together for special days instead of just going out to eat. It’s so much more personal this way (though I love eating out as well)
I would definitely put the money toward a decent chef’s knife. My current one is so pathetic, I can barely call it a knife, much less a chef’s knife!
Ooooh, and my favorite one of eating crabs is a simple steam and then a giant dip in melted butter
Happy Belated birthday to your father.
I would get some school supplies for my son such as pencils, books, crayons etc.
Aloha!
Aaw Le Quan – There you go again making all the foods I love! Happy birthday you your Dad! The menu is wonderful and I had to gulp and smack my lips at least twice while reading this post
I can swear I have some Chinese blood in tehre somewhere – the way I obsess about the cuisine.
Hugs, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
PS – My fave way of eating crab in Singaporean chilli & pepper crabs – that’s 2 ways but what the heck!
Oh LeQuan, everyone can have their own crab?! I’m all in for this! I don’t cook crab at home. We usually have it at a friend’s house or at a restaurant so we share. Having my own crab is so tempting! Happy belated bday to you dad.
I dont’ know what to buy at the CNS Store. Maybe toys for Bella or a good knife for me!
Whoa, you are hardcore. That meal looks AWESOME!!!
Happy belated birthday to your dad! Looks like you guys had a WONDERFUL meal!
I’d get a new food processor!!!
I’d use it toward a guidecraft kitchen helper. Thanks for the chance!
There is no bad way to eat crab. I love it steamed with butter sauce. Yum!
Wow, your elaborate meals never cease to impress me because I can tell how much preparatory work goes into just preparing those dishes! I’m sure they’re all worth it in the end though, and that your family loves you that much more for doing it.
Your kids are too cute. Do they like crab too? As a kid, whenever we’d eat crab (a special treat), I’d pile up all my hard-earned “meat” (cracking crab legs requires a good tooth and a good nail!) until it built up into a mini-mountain. Then I’d douse it with vinegar and eat up! Good times. 
Also, congratulations on being selected as a CSN stores blogger. I also think you’re awesome for donating your gift certificate to your readers.
xo Aletheia
So I totally forgot to tell you what I’d get from CSN Stores.
I actually planned it out 2 nights ago.
You see, I’d purchase 2 things:
1. A World Cuisine Paderno spiralizer
2. A Cuisinart mini prep plus food processor. Model D-ABC.
<3
My tweet including “@lynnchenrocks AKA luvtoeat” is now twittering somewhere in the twittosphere.
Cyber resonance.
I’d use it towards a new Tv.
I would buy a Le Creuset skinny grill at CSN.
oh goodness! what a fabulous giveaway!
I think I would want to buy a North Face backpack for school! YEAHH I couldn’t believe CSN sell back packs too!! What do they NOT sell??
Mmm chinese veggies in all shapes and forms are my favorite. I would pick them over a cold salad…on most days i think.
Wow…what huge crabs! I can’t take my eyes away from it! we get huge Scottish crabs here too but so difficult to clean up, cook and eat them. I gave up buying after one time! It’s always wonderful to see such happy moments of family gathering
Hi LeQuan
A Happy Belated Birthday to your dad
Love the food you and your family put together. Kang kong is one of my favourites, especially with lots of garlic YUM!! The crabs are HUGE, and I’d definitely need one to myself, at least, and with someone to crack and peel for me too LOL
Love the dipping sauce – just look at all that GARLIC!!!!!
thanks for the great posts AND chance to win FREE stuff…no better combo!
i would use it to buy some groovy kitchen tools…my spoons and flippers are pathetic, and my bowls are even worser!
thanks again
Hey LeQuan, Dad’s birthday looks awesome, and I love the photo of him and K toasting. They both look so cute (smile)! Oh, and I want to know the proportions of the vinegars to each other and how much garlic one uses for the sauce-if it’s not a secret or anything. It sounds delicious and I can think of so many things that would be good dipped in it. You and your Dad’s favorite looks so healthful too, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen water spinach…?
p.s. I would love one of those kinds of sturdy pans that one can start food in on the stove and then easily put in the oven to finish. One that won’t explode (smile). For real though-that’s happened to me…
What a great birthday!! I would get the large bean bag chair.Looks comfy:-)cc
W-h-a-t a f-e-a-s-t!!! my eyes are straight at those huge crabs….maryland is very famous for blue crab, yet I have never had such big ones. That’s is a very impressive picture, with big crab in front of each and everyone’s plate! I guess your family are extremely satisfied….!!!
oh csn store – I would love to have a steamer!
i would love to buy a kitchen scale from CSN!
and my favorite way to eat crab is deep fried…more specifically, the typhoon shelter crab from under bridge spicy crab in hong kong. one word – amazing!
Oh my goodness. a whole crab for each! What a feast! Truly, nobody feasts like the Chinese, huh?
I need a mini fridge, actually, but I’ll be happy with a new blender or a stock pot.
I tweeted!
Oh, and my favorite way to eat crabs: SINGAPORE CHILI CRAB WITH FRIED MANTOU!!!!
i want the Oster 14-Speed Glass Jar Blender in Brushed Nickel
i have only had crab once in my life and i don’t know how they made it but it was good!
tweeted http://twitter.com/godlyhomemaker/status/19226648571
I have never had crab. Looks fun! I wouldn’t even know where to start.
I would buy a crock pot. I really want one and I just really love CSN!!!
That crab looked so tasty.I have never had crab in the shell,I always have had it all in tiny bits from the store.
jacksoncrisman@yahoo.com
Well,Like I said I have never had a whole crab. When I have had it it was on some little crackers with sauce at wedding parties and other places like that!
jacksoncrisman@yahoo.com
Happy belated birthday to your dad! He looks so happy, surrounded my his family
You know, I never knew what fish maw was … until this very moment! I ate it in Hong Kong without knowing what it was! Yikes! I’ll have to put the picture of what I ate up in a future post. I have to agree with you, I didn’t like it all that much. It was – strange. Your water spinach with fermented tofu, however, is something that I MUST try. I have the fermented tofu, but I can’t find water spinach, even at the huge Asian grocery that I go to here
Must. Keep. Looking.
By the way, those crabs are HUUUUUUGE!! :O Luv it!!
Almost forgot! I just tweeted and added the contest to my latest blog post, but please don’t enter me in the contest – I already have a huge number of wonderful kitchen gadgets, one of the perks of getting married. And when I say “I”, I mean “we”. and when I say “we”, I mean “Peter”. Because he collects kitchen gadgets like other men collect beer
I’m eyeing an ice cream maker =]
I would chose the Le Creuset 6-Quart Stock Pot in Caribbean. I am in need of a good stockpot to make my soups, stews, stocks and CRABS!
Tweet
http://twitter.com/HeartnSoulmom/status/19475187005
My favorite way to eat crab is steamed with plenty of lemon butter sauce for dipping. Yum.
P.S. Those are the biggest crabs I have seen!
I’d like to get the J Fit 18″ Stability Exercise Ball.
I’d get a diaper bag for my daughter!
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
I like to eat crab when it’s stuffed into something else like Chicken rolls or sushi!
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
Mmm crabs. I lived in Maryland for a few months and could not get over how readily available super fresh crabs were there; or how popular, either! I’d love to get a digital scale.
Favorite way to eat crabs:
Weeknight Crab Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb. Maryland blue crabmeat, free of shells ( can use any crab meat, however)
3 cups low fat chicken broth
2 5.5 oz. cans spicy V8 juice
1 16 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
3 tbs. Old Bay seasoning
3 bay leaves
Hot sauce (to taste, optional)
Instructions:
Combine ingredients in a large stockpot.
Heat over medium flame, stirring occasionally.
Simmer at least 10 minutes.
Remove bay leaves and serve. –Susan Craig, Pasadena
tweeted: http://twitter.com/mangomerle
I blogged about this here: http://mangomerle.blogspot.com/2010/07/csn-stores-giveaways.html
I tweeted about this: http://twitter.com/mangomerle
I would get the KitchenAid Cookware Gourmet Essentials 2.25 Quart Soft Grip Tea Kettle in Red. My family LOVE!!! drinking tea and my tea pot is old and needs to be re-placed.
My favorite way to eat crab is in tacos, I also like making crab cakes.
I would love to by something for my basement, either some decor balls or some wall art.
kaysiscrafts@gmail.com
I would like to get the KitchenAid Cookware Gourmet Essentials 2.25 Quart Soft Grip Tea Kettle in Terra Cotta
HobartsMama {AT} AOL.COM
I listed your giveaway on my blog
http://jennaiscorner.blogspot.com/
HobartsMama {at} aol.com
I like crab the way they have it in a buffet we go to — I think it might be Salt & Pepper crab legs. The legs are really easy to crack.
HobartsMama {AT} AOL.COM
61 comments – holy cannoli! You are one popular chicky! I love crab and this was an excellent post for me to learn from. The sauce looks really tasty. I don’t know what Chinese red vinegar tastes like, but all of the other flavours are familiar, so I can imagine the citrus garlicy power behind the punch in this sauce. YUM! But, crab is so delicate, doesn’t it overpower the flavour of the meat? Well, I guess it is not so delicate… but, I love it with butter, too! Do you eat the insides of the crab? I haven’t had a whole one for so long, but I recall it being very fishy and strong in flavour. Is it?
I love to learn new things!!!
Big hug to you, and lucky daddy! What did you choose from the store?
Congrats on that, too XOOXXO
Valerie! First of all, thank you for catching up on all my posts, you’re a sweetheart! Secondly, I wish I was that popular haha, but it was partly b/c of the giveaway. Thirdly, the sauce doesn’t overpower the crab meat. You’re only supposed to dip a bit in, and you can add as little or as much garlic to the sauce as you’d like. I love the insides of the crab! Don’t know what it’s called though. Hubby calls it brains (lol), I call it innards (whatever), and I’ve heard them being called liver (eeek). Whatever it’s called, yumms! I eat it mixed with white rice. And lastly, I didn’t choose anything from the store. I chose to giveaway the giftcard to one of my readers, hence the 60 comments lol. Always love your curious questions, they make me feel important lol. Glad to see you in the blogosphere again!