Aligue (crab fat) substitutes

The closest match available, because tomalley is literally the same organ in a different crustacean, the hepatopancreas. Whisk it with softened butter until smooth and stir it into hot rice or pasta off the heat.

Best for

aligue rice, aligue pasta, crab fat sauces, seafood risotto, finishing sauteed shellfish

Very close in richness and in that specific savoury, faintly bitter deep-sea character, but milder, sweeter and much less salty than jarred aligue, which is usually packed with plenty of salt. The colour is greener and less orange, so add a pinch of annatto or paprika if the vivid orange matters. Realistically it is only available if you are already cooking lobster.

The best practical substitute and genuinely excellent in its own right. Saute the heads in oil over medium heat for five minutes, pressing them firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze the fat out, then strain the brilliant orange oil and discard the shells.

Best for

aligue rice, aligue pasta, garlic shrimp, seafood pasta, sinangag

Nails the colour and a remarkable amount of the umami, and it is cheap since the heads are usually thrown away. The difference is consistency: this gives you a flavoured oil rather than a thick paste, so it coats rice beautifully but will not cling to pasta the way aligue does. Whisk in a tablespoon of butter to give it body.

The pantry build, and the one most people will actually be able to make tonight. Rinse the shrimp paste briefly to knock the salt back, fry it in the butter for a minute until it stops smelling raw, then stir in the annatto oil for colour.

Best for

aligue rice, aligue pasta, binagoongan style dishes, seafood fried rice

Delivers all three jobs on paper, but the character is different: funkier, saltier and more fermented, where aligue is sweet, buttery and rounded. A rice made this way tastes assertively of bagoong rather than gently of crab. Rinsing the paste and using more butter than you think you need are both important, or it tips into harsh.

A luxurious swap that works remarkably well texturally, since uni is a soft, rich, orange gonad with the same melting quality. Mash it with a fork and fold it through warm rice or pasta off the heat so it does not scramble.

Best for

aligue pasta, aligue rice, special occasion seafood dishes, finishing sauces

Creamier and sweeter, with a pronounced iodine, oceanic edge in place of aligue's crabbiness, so the dish tastes distinctly of the sea rather than of shellfish fat. Colour is a very good match. The obvious drawback is price, since uni typically costs more than the aligue you are replacing.

Not a substitute so much as making it yourself. If you are cooking whole crabs anyway, scrape the orange roe and the pale fat from inside the shell, mash it with a little butter, and you have aligue.

Best for

aligue rice, crab pasta, crab sauces, when you already have whole crabs

This is the real thing, just unsalted and unconcentrated, so it is milder and sweeter than jarred aligue and you will need salt. Only female crabs carry the bright orange roe; the male's pale fat is still worth scraping but gives less colour. Yield is small, which is precisely why the jarred talangka version exists.

Worth saying plainly, because the internet will tell you otherwise: no ordinary supermarket sells anything that is aligue, and imitation crab sticks are not remotely a substitute since they are pollock, starch and sugar. This blend is the best you can do from a normal kitchen.

Best for

aligue rice when nothing else is available, emergency substitution

Expect maybe two thirds of the effect. You get the fat, the orange tint and a savoury shellfish suggestion, but not the deep, slightly bitter organ richness that is the whole point of crab fat. It makes a delicious buttery rice; it does not make aligue rice. If aligue is central to the dish, it is worth ordering a jar rather than faking it.