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Sweet Dungeness crab piled high on a throne of crisp iceberg, surrounded by ripe tomatoes, creamy avocado, and perfectly cooked eggs, all brought together by a tangy-sweet Louie dressing that belongs in every Pacific cook's repertoire.
The Crab Louie belongs to the Pacific Coast the way bouillabaisse belongs to Marseille. San Francisco and Seattle have argued over its birthright for a century. I say let them fight. What matters is that the dish exists, and that you make it properly.
Dungeness crab is the sweetest crustacean swimming in American waters. Named for a small Washington fishing village, these crabs have fed the peoples of this coast for thousands of years. The Makah, the Quinault, the Coast Salish tribes all harvested them long before European settlers arrived. Later, Chinese and Scandinavian fishermen built the commercial fleet that still supplies our markets today. When you eat Dungeness, you're tasting layers of history.
The Louie dressing deserves your attention. Most restaurants buy something from a jar that tastes of nothing but mayonnaise and food coloring. The real thing balances tangy and sweet, with enough heat to wake up your palate and enough richness to stand up to the crab. Make it from scratch. It takes ten minutes and transforms this salad from ordinary to memorable.
This is a composed salad, which means presentation matters. Each element gets its own place on the plate. The crab sits proud at the center. The accompaniments arrange themselves around it like courtiers. You eat with your eyes first, and a well-composed Louie is a beautiful sight.
Quantity
1 pound
picked over for shell fragments
Quantity
1 large head
cored and cut into wedges
Quantity
4
Quantity
2 medium
cut into wedges
Quantity
1
sliced
Quantity
12 spears
trimmed
Quantity
4
thinly sliced
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
2
minced
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
for garnish
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh Dungeness crab meatpicked over for shell fragments | 1 pound |
| iceberg lettucecored and cut into wedges | 1 large head |
| large eggs | 4 |
| ripe tomatoescut into wedges | 2 medium |
| ripe avocadosliced | 1 |
| asparagustrimmed | 12 spears |
| radishesthinly sliced | 4 |
| mayonnaise | 1 cup |
| chili sauce | 1/4 cup |
| heavy cream | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1 teaspoon |
| green onionsminced | 2 |
| hot sauce | 1/4 teaspoon |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| fresh chives (optional) | for garnish |
| lemon wedges | for serving |
Whisk together the mayonnaise, chili sauce, heavy cream, lemon juice, Worcestershire, minced green onions, and hot sauce in a medium bowl. The color should be a pale coral pink, not orange. Taste it. The dressing should be tangy first, then sweet, with a whisper of heat at the finish. Adjust the lemon juice and hot sauce until the balance pleases you. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare everything else. The flavors will marry and mellow.
Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water by one inch. Set over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. The moment you see large bubbles breaking the surface, cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and let it sit for exactly 10 minutes. Transfer eggs immediately to a bowl of ice water. Let them chill for at least 5 minutes before peeling. The yolks should be fully set but still bright yellow, not chalky gray-green around the edges.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. It should taste like the sea. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Drop the asparagus into the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on thickness. You want them bright green and crisp-tender, with just enough give when you bite through. Plunge immediately into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and pat dry. Limp, olive-drab asparagus has no place on this plate.
Spread the crab meat on a rimmed baking sheet and examine it carefully under good light. Run your fingers through every piece, feeling for shell fragments. Even the best-picked crab contains the occasional shard, and nothing ruins a beautiful salad like biting down on shell. Keep the lumps intact as much as possible. The large body pieces should remain whole to show on the plate. Refrigerate until ready to compose the salad.
Cut the iceberg lettuce into four wedges through the core, keeping each wedge intact. The cold crunch of iceberg is essential here. Don't let anyone convince you to substitute fancy greens. Slice the tomatoes into wedges. Halve and slice the avocado. Peel and quarter the hard-boiled eggs lengthwise. Slice the radishes paper-thin. Arrange all components on a tray so you can compose each plate efficiently.
Place a lettuce wedge slightly off-center on each chilled plate. Mound a generous quarter of the crab meat on top of and beside the lettuce, letting the largest lumps show. Arrange the tomato wedges, avocado slices, egg quarters, and asparagus spears around the crab in a composition that pleases your eye. Scatter the radish slices for color. Spoon a generous ribbon of Louie dressing over the crab and lettuce. Snip fresh chives over everything. Place a lemon wedge on the side of each plate.
Bring the salads to the table at once, with extra dressing in a small pitcher for those who want more. The crab should be cold, the lettuce crisp, the avocado yielding. This is not a salad that waits. Every minute it sits, the lettuce loses crunch and the avocado browns. Pass crusty sourdough bread if you have it. San Francisco would approve.
1 serving (about 650g)
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