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1
Melt butter in a 4 to 5 quart pan.
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2
Remove from heat and blend in the cornstarch.
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3
Gradually stir in 1 cup of the dry vermouth and the chicken broth.
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4
Add parsley, garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice and sugar.
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5
Return to stove and bring to a boil.
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6
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
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At this point, you can cover and chill broth up to 24 hours.
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8
(I should let you know here that the broth is SOOO delicious that we usually make a double batch.)
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9
To the hot or reheated broth, add the crabs (about 2 lbs.
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10
each, cleaned and cracked).
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Cover and simmer until crab is heated through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
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12
Pour remaining 1/4 cup vermouth over crab.
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13
Ladle the broth and crab into large, individual bowls.
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14
Serve with homemade French bread for dipping.
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15
Important: Your dinner guests will love you more if you provide implements for cracking and picking the crab and lots of wet towels!
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16
This meal is not for those who dont like to get dirty when eating.
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Note: I actually prefer to make the broth the evening before I plan on serving.
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It gives the ingredients a chance to meld and creates a much richer flavor.
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19
You can also make this more of a seafood soup/stew by pre-picking the crab and just dumping it into the broth.
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20
This is probably the way you want to go if you dont want the dinner table mess.
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21
Additionally, you may want to increase the number of crabs if you have real seafood lovers in house.
