Chef Isabel
Banderilla Vasca
Banderilla Vasca is the Basque bar's cold skewer: piparra peppers, olives, pickled onion, gherkin, and anchovy threaded so every bite lands sharp, briny, and salty.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Txangurro Gratinado
Created by
Txangurro Gratinado is Basque celebration cooking: sweet spider crab folded into a slow onion, leek, tomato, and brandy sofrito, then browned on bread until the top turns crisp and golden.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Special Occasion
Celebration
Christmas
45 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Txangurro Gratinado is Basque, from the coast where a spider crab is not just seafood but a small event at the table. Txangurro means spider crab, and the dish is the picked meat cooked back into a slow sofrito, the onion base, with leek, tomato, brandy, and a little bread to catch the juices before it goes under the grill. That is what makes it this dish, not a neighbour's crab salad or a plain baked shell.
The method that decides it is the sofrito. Cook the onion and leek low and patient until they go soft, dark gold, and sweet before the tomato goes in. Rush that base and the crab tastes separate, as if it arrived late to its own plate. Let it cook down properly and the sweet shellfish carries through every spoonful.
If you can get live spider crab, good. If not, use freshly picked brown crab or Dungeness crab, and keep some of the brown meat if it tastes clean and sweet. It will not have quite the same deep sea sweetness, but it will make a proper home version. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need good crab, a calm pan, and not too much breadcrumb. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Txangurro belongs to the Basque coast, especially around Donostia and the fishing towns where spider crab came ashore in the colder months and was saved for generous tables. The gratinated version reflects Basque home and society cooking: the crab meat is picked carefully, enriched with a long vegetable sofrito and brandy, then returned to the shell or set over bread before browning. It is often treated as Christmas or celebration food because the crab is dear, and because the work of picking it clean is part of the dish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cooked spider crab
Quantity
1, about 1.2kg
picked, keeping white meat and clean brown meat
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
40ml
onion
Quantity
1 medium, 180g
finely diced
leek
Quantity
1 small, 120g
white and pale green part only, finely diced
carrot
Quantity
1 small, 80g
finely diced
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
250g
grated, or 200g good canned crushed tomato
brandy
Quantity
60ml
dry white wine or fish stock
Quantity
80ml
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaf
Quantity
1
day-old bread
Quantity
30g
torn small
rustic bread
Quantity
4 slices
for serving
unsalted butter
Quantity
25g
softened
fine breadcrumbs
Quantity
20g
parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cooked spider crabpicked, keeping white meat and clean brown meat | 1, about 1.2kg |
| extra virgin olive oil | 40ml |
| onionfinely diced | 1 medium, 180g |
| leekwhite and pale green part only, finely diced | 1 small, 120g |
| carrotfinely diced | 1 small, 80g |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| ripe tomatoesgrated, or 200g good canned crushed tomato | 250g |
| brandy | 60ml |
| dry white wine or fish stock | 80ml |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| day-old breadtorn small | 30g |
| rustic breadfor serving | 4 slices |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 25g |
| fine breadcrumbs | 20g |
| parsleychopped | 1 tablespoon |
| salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy frying pan or saute pan
- •Crab picks or small skewers
- •Small baking tray or cleaned crab shells
- •Grill or broiler
Instructions
- 1
Pick the crab
Open the cooked spider crab over a bowl so you keep every drop of juice. Pick the white meat from the legs and body, then add only the clean, sweet brown meat from the shell. Discard the gills and any gritty parts. Taste the brown meat before it goes in; if it tastes bitter or muddy, leave it out. Sourcing wins here, as always.
If using brown crab or Dungeness crab, aim for about 300g picked meat. Add 2 tablespoons of the clean brown meat if you have it, because it gives the Basque depth that plain white crab cannot. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over low heat. Add the onion, leek, carrot, and a pinch of salt, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables are soft, dark gold, and almost jammy. This slow sofrito is the dish. Cook it too fast and the onion stays sharp, and the crab tastes thin beside it.
- 3
Add tomato and brandy
Stir in the garlic for 1 minute, then add the grated tomato, pimentón, and bay leaf. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomato loses its raw smell and the oil begins to show at the edges. Pour in the brandy and let it bubble hard for 1 minute, then add the white wine or fish stock and cook until the pan looks thick again.
- 4
Fold in crab
Add the torn day-old bread and stir until it softens into the sauce. Fold in the picked crab and any saved crab juices, then cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes only, just long enough for the meat to warm through and take the sofrito. Taste for salt and black pepper. Remove the bay leaf.
- 5
Prepare for gratin
Heat the grill or broiler to high. Toast the 4 bread slices lightly on one side and set them on a small baking tray, untoasted side up. Spoon the crab mixture generously over the bread, or into cleaned crab shells if you have them. Dot with softened butter and scatter over the fine breadcrumbs.
- 6
Brown and serve
Gratinate 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely, until the crumbs turn golden and the edges of the crab mixture catch in little browned spots. Finish with chopped parsley and serve at once, with small spoons and napkins. It should be rich, sweet, and sea-deep, not heavy.
Chef Tips
- •Spider crab is best in the cold months, and this is why it belongs so naturally on a Christmas table. If the crab at the market smells tired, buy a better brown crab or Dungeness instead. A sad crab cannot be fixed by brandy.
- •Do not drown the crab in tomato. The tomato should disappear into the sofrito and carry sweetness, not turn the dish into red sauce.
- •The bread under the gratin is not decoration. It catches the crab juices and gives you the soft middle and browned top that make this worth eating straight from the tray.
Advance Preparation
- •The crab can be cooked and picked up to 24 hours ahead; keep the meat covered in the refrigerator with its juices.
- •The sofrito can be made a day ahead. Rewarm it gently, then fold in the crab just before gratinating so the meat stays sweet and tender.
- •Do not gratinate ahead. The bread softens too much and the top loses its crisp edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
420 calories
Total Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
41 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
21 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Pintxos Vascos
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Bilbainito
Bilbainito is Bilbao's tidy answer to the gilda: bread, mayonnaise, boiled egg, cooked prawn, and olive, speared together so the whole thing disappears in one bite.
Chef Isabel
Brocheta de Gambas Donostiarra
This Basque prawn skewer belongs to Donostia's pintxo counters: hot plancha prawns, bread to catch the juices, and a garlicky parsley oil spooned over at the end.
Chef Isabel
Champiñones a la Plancha Bilbaínos
Bilbao's champiñones a la plancha are mushroom caps seared hard on a hot plancha, finished with garlic and parsley, then piled on bread while the juices are still glossy.