• Lunch
  • |
  • Dinner
  • |
  • Snack
  • |
  • Side

Hummus with Spanner Crab and King Prawns

  • 3 DAYS
    • |
  • 25 MINS
    • |
  • SERVES 4-6
[This hummus recipe]..."took me years to perfect, and I would change the toppings seasonally from lamb to pumpkin to calamari, all with the same flavours and characteristics of the authentic hummus bi awarma. But one summer I created the sauce with the most amazing king prawns and spanner crab, a combination inspired by my apprenticeship at the Stokehouse in St. Kilda, and it was the one. It became my most popular dish. I really love everything about it, and I still love cooking it all these years later, not just in restaurants but for special occasions celebrating with family too, it’s often my Christmas lunch go-to dish."  - Tom Sarafian
Hummus with Spanner Crab and King Prawns

Ingredients

  • FOR THE HUMMUS:
  • - 500g dried chickpeas
  • - 1 pinch bicarb soda
  • - 300g tahini
  • -100ml olive oil
  • - 250g ice cubes
  • - 50g toum
  • - 50ml lemon juice
  • FOR THE SAUCE:
  • - 3 large brown onions, peeled
  • - 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • - 1/2kg whole raw king prawns
  • - 150 grams butter
  • - 1 tsp sea salt
  • - 3 tsp Aleppo pepper
  • - pinch ground cinnamon
  • - pinch ground allspice
  • - 100 grams toum
  • - 250 grams raw spanner crab meat
  • - 1 bunch coriander, washed
  • - ½ tsp cracked black pepper
  • - pinch smoked paprika

Steps

  1. Soak chickpeas for 10 hours in 5 litres of water with a pinch of bicarb. Change the water after 10 hours then continue soaking for a few hours or until ready to cook (there’s no need to add more bicarb).
  2. Drain the chickpeas and place in a large pot, covered with fresh water. Bring to the boil. Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 hours or until completely soft. If the centre is still a little raw (like pasta or rice can be) it will make your hummus chalky. Skim any foam from the surface as it cooks.
  3. Drain very well, then while still hot, blitz the chickpeas in a food processor on high for 5 minutes.
  4. Add ice and 2 tsp flaky salt, blitz for 3 minutes, then add tahini and blitz for another 3 minutes. Scrape into a bowl, flatten with a spatula and cover with olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
  5. Once chilled, return hummus to blender with lemon juice and toum. Blend for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lemon to your preference. Keep hummus in an airtight container in the fridge, bringing out 30 minutes before serving to bring to room temperature.
  6. For the sauce, peel and thinly slice the onions. Add to a saucepan with the olive oil and gently cook on a low heat until completely soft but not browned, stirring frequently.
  7. In the meantime, peel the prawns and chop into small pieces around the size of a chickpea.
  8. When the onions are completely soft remove from heat and add the butter, salt, Aleppo pepper, cinnamon, allspice and toum. Stir until mixed well then add the prawns and return to a medium heat.
  9. Stir gently and continuously until the prawn meat is almost cooked and starting to change colour then add the crab meat. Continue stirring until the crab is just cooked through then remove from heat.
  10. Roughly chop coriander leaves and stalks and stir into the sauce with black pepper and smoked paprika.
  11. To serve, use a large spoon to dollop the hummus into the centre of a plate then using the back of a spoon spread it around to give the hummus a bowl shape. Dipping the spoon into warm water helps. Pour the sauce into the centre of the hummus.

Other Recipes