Is a fiddler crab the same as a blue swimming crab? Not sure. Anyway, my original post was mainly about pickling - as opposed to cooking (by heat). In the end I 'bottled out' (as we say in the UK) and cooked the crab pieces to avoid risking the health of my guests. Tasted great, but I still would prefer to include an unboiled (blue) crab. Could you describe how you go about salting/fermenting? BTW I quite agree about mixing green mango and papaya - the mango in particular adds a distinct Indochinese flavour rather than pure Thai. But I remain to be convinced that cherry tomatoes are either authentic or necessary or desirable. Jon