National Dish Trinidad and Tobago: Callaloo Crab (Recipe)
In this article
Callaloo in Trinidad is a thick green soup of dasheen leaves, okra and coconut milk, usually with crab in it, and it is Sunday lunch. It is served with rice, macaroni pie and stewed meat, and the plate is crowded.
About Callaloo Crab
Trinidadian callaloo is not the Jamaican dish of the same name. Here it is dasheen or taro leaf, cooked down with okra and coconut milk and then blended smooth, traditionally with a swizzle stick spun between the palms.
Blue crab is the classic addition. The leaves must be cooked thoroughly, as with all taro leaf.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 200 g fresh crab
- 300 g callaloo (or spinach)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 small chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon thyme, fresh or dried
- 200 ml coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Juice of half a lime
Shopping for the ingredients
Frozen dasheen leaves from a Caribbean grocer are already blanched. Blue crab in the shell is traditional; picked white crab meat is easier. Fresh thyme and a whole scotch bonnet for aroma. Okra thickens it and belongs.
Preparing the dish
Strip the leaves from the stalks and wash them. Add okra with the leaves, which is what gives callaloo its body. Cook it long enough, then blend it smooth, which is how Trinidadians serve it.
Step-by-step instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic and chilli and sauté until softened.
- Add the fresh callaloo leaves and a handful of sliced okra and fry for 2–3 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and enough water to cover, add the thyme and a whole scotch bonnet.
- Simmer for at least 25 minutes until the leaves are completely tender.
- Remove the pepper and blend the soup smooth.
- Fold in the crab, season with salt, pepper and lime juice and warm through for 5 minutes.
- Serve hot with rice.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Callaloo contains no gluten and no dairy, since coconut milk does the enriching. Served with rice the whole plate is suitable.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
Callaloo without crab is a real Trinidadian dish and is made every week. The dasheen, okra and coconut are the substance. Coo-coo and callaloo is the vegetarian pairing.
More tips and tricks
Cook the leaves at least 25 minutes before blending; undercooked dasheen leaves an itch at the back of the throat. Keep the scotch bonnet whole. And blend it properly smooth, which is what Trinidadians expect.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Salted pigtail or crab claws in the shell make the fullest version. More okra thickens it further. A dumpling or two dropped in is common.
Ingredient substitutions
Spinach replaces dasheen with a thinner result. Picked crab meat for whole crab. Coconut cream makes it richer.
Drink pairing ideas
Mauby, the bittersweet bark drink, is the Trinidadian standard. Carib or Stag lager. Sorrel at Christmas.
Serving and presentation ideas
Serve it as part of a Sunday plate: rice, macaroni pie, stewed chicken, callaloo and fried plantain. It goes on the plate as a thick green sauce over the rice rather than in a separate bowl.
A bit of history
Callaloo is one of the clearest African survivals in Caribbean cooking, and versions run from Trinidad to Belize. Trinidad’s population is roughly equally African and Indian in descent, and its food reflects both; callaloo belongs to the African side. It anchors Trinidadian cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Callaloo Crab
Callaloo is dasheen leaves and okra cooked in coconut milk, blended smooth and finished with crab. Cook the leaves 25 minutes, keep the pepper whole, and blend it properly.
