Blue swimmer crab, almond and preserved apple

1.Preheat a steamer oven to 100% steam (or set a steamer basket over a saucepan of boiling water and bring to full steam). Clean crabs by removing top shell, then removing gills (“dead man’s fingers”) and brown meat. Split each crab into 4 and crack large claws for even cooking. Steam crabs until just cooked through (10-12 minutes). Cool immediately in freezer (30-40 minutes), but do not allow to freeze. Pick crab meat from shells, placing it in a bowl over ice as you go. Be sure not to waste any of the sweet leg meat. Refrigerate until required.

2.Combine sugar, citric acid and 500ml water in a small rondeau or small shallow-sided saucepan and stir over low heat to dissolve sugar. Peel quarter and core apple, and add to sugar solution, cover with a piece of baking paper and weight with a small plate to keep apple submerged. Poach over low heat at 70C-80C until apple is tender and almost falling apart (3-4 hours). Remove from syrup and dry in full sun until semi-dry (3-4 hours).

3.For almond milk, preheat oven to 180C. Roast 50gm almonds on a baking tray until light golden (8-10 minutes). Cool slightly, then blend with remaining almonds and 250ml water to a smooth purée. Wet a clean tea towel, wring it dry, place almond pulp in tea towel and squeeze liquid into a bowl over ice (discard solids). You should yield about 150ml thick milk. Refrigerate to chill (30-40 minutes).

4.Scatter cold crab in serving bowls or on plates and drizzle with almond milk (about 2 tbsp per portion). Cut apples into 1cm dice and place 5 pieces around each plate on top of crab. Scatter with sorrel and serve.