Crab Salad

Ingredients

• 300 g Crab meat
• 3 Egg
• 50 g Rice
• 1 can Corn
• 1 Cucumber
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Onion
• 100 g Mayonnaise

Method

This is a composed cold-dishes, so the control point is temperature: everything must be cold before assembly, and the mayonnaise base must stay emulsified without breaking. Start by bringing a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the rice separately according to packet instructions — you want grains that hold their shape, not a stodgy mass. Simultaneously, lower the egg into the same boiling water and cook for exactly nine minutes; a timer matters here because you need the yolk set but still faintly yielding in the centre, which gives a creamier bite than a fully hard-boiled yolk. The carrot — cut into 5mm dice — goes in with the eggs and will be tender in that same nine minutes. Drain everything and spread on a cold plate to arrest cooking immediately; warm vegetables will soften the mayonnaise and collapse the salad's texture.

While cooling, flake the crab meat carefully, checking for fragments of shell. Corn from the tin can be drained without rinsing — the starch and slight salt help bind the salad. Dice the cucumber into 5mm pieces and salt it lightly; this draws out excess moisture so the salad won't weep. The onion — raw, finely sliced — needs a two-minute soak in cold water to mellow the astringency without losing its crunch.

Once all components are cold, combine the rice, egg, carrot, corn, cucumber, onion, and crab in a large bowl. Fold in the mayonnaise in two stages: half first, then taste and adjust. The emulsion mayonnaise will coat the vegetables and crab without drowning them — aim for a salad that just holds together, not one that's mayonnaise-heavy and slick. If you've oversalted the onion, add it last and use the salted soaking water as a buffer.

Chill the finished salad for at least 30 minutes; the cold firms the texture and allows the flavours to settle. Before serving, check the mayonnaise hasn't separated — if it looks broken or oily, fold in a tablespoon of cold water and it'll come back together. Serve from a cold bowl.