I
hardly ever cook crab at home, though I love eating them. That’s because I
could never muster the guts to slaughter them! Yes, I am a wimp when it comes
to personally ending the life of one of God’s creatures for the cooking pot…
In
Singapore, when we talk about crab, what’s on everybody’s mind is almost always
Chilli Crab.
I think
this dish’s place in the ‘national cuisine’ of Singapore is richly deserved.
Though there are many various claimants to the original birthplace of Chilli
Crab, for sheer satiating deliciousness, no country does it the way we do.
However,
having eaten Chilli Crab since I was a boy, I can say too, that I’ve borne
witness to the gradual changes in the dish, especially in flavor and the type
of crab used. It began as a simple affair---just local mud crabs---but over the
years has come to embrace a richer harvest, including the Sri Lankan crab,
Alaskan crab, and snow crab of today. The gravy has also evolved: it is
sweeter, and often much less spicy, than I remember it.
In the
old days, people ate Chilli Crab sometimes with rice, but more often with the
local version of the baguette known as ‘French loaf’. And nothing tasted better
than dipping chunks of French loaf into the thick gravy. These days the French
loaf is all but forgotten, replaced instead by the steamed or fried Chinese bun
called ‘man tou’.
I never
like my Chilli Crab with the sweeter and finer textured man tou, and sorely
miss the simple French loaf, with its rough thick crust heavily soaked and
dripping with spicy crab gravy!
 |
| Ideal choices for the crab to be used are Sri Lankan and Indonesian, whose meat is firmer. |
Recently,
I took the bold step of slaughtering a crab. Where an experienced cook would
have made light work of it in a minute or less, I took more than twenty, with
much of it spent simply drumming up the courage!
I was
trying to replicate the Chilli Crab I used to enjoy at home back in the 60s. To
achieve this, I made my own chilli paste instead of relying on the off-the-rack
versions available today---which would have given me flavors different from
those of my childhood. I also skipped the step where you quick-deep-fried the
crab, since I preferred my crabmeat succulent, soft and juicy, and the skipped
process would have left a light crust on the meat. Therefore, enjoy!
Chilli Crab
Oil 1½ tbsp
Onion ½, sliced thickly
Red
chilli 2, sliced thickly
Chilli
paste 2 tbsp
Mud
crab 1 kg, cleaned and chopped and
smashed lightly
Wine 2 tbsp
Stock 1 cup
Tomato 2, quartered
Salt ½ tsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Egg 2, lightly beaten
Corn
flour 1 tbsp, diluted with 1 tbsp of
water
Coriander 1 tbsp, sliced
Spring
onion 1 tbsp, sliced
Chilli
paste:
Oil 8 tbsp
Shallots 130 g, chopped
Garlic 80 g, chopped
Candle
nuts 60 g, chopped
Belachan 50 g, mashed
Chilli
paste 250 g
Salt ½ tsp
Sugar 2 tbsp
Method:
1.
Fry
onion and chilli over low flame until the onion turns soft. This will caramelize
the onion.
2.
Increase
the flame to the maximum, add chilli paste and fry for 30 seconds before adding
the crab. Quick-stir for 1 minute. Add wine around the circumference of the
wok. This process helps to evaporate all alcohol content. Continue to stir-fry
for another 1 minute.
3.
Add
stock, tomato, and cover the wok with a lid. Let the stock boil for 5 minutes,
without opening the lid.
4.
Remove
lid, season the mixture with salt and sugar. Lower the flame and add beaten egg
and stir thoroughly.
5. Thicken
the sauce with corn starch.
6. Garnish
the dish with coriander and spring onion and serve immediately.
7.
After
eating the crab, it is a practice to finish the sauce by dipping baguette in
it.
Chilli
paste:
1. Saute shallots with oil until
light golden brown, add garlic and belachan and continue to fry until all
ingredients are golden brown.
2. Add candle nuts and chilli paste
and cook until oil surfaces. If the mixture turns dry or begins to burn during
the process, add a tbsp of water during the frying.
3. Season with salt and sugar. The
cooked chilli paste can be kept for 2 weeks refrigerated.
Note:
Crab could be deep-fried in hot oil for 30 seconds, and drained before cooking.
This will form a very light crust on the meat. But I prefer to skip this step
as I like the crabmeat smooth and soaked in the gravy thoroughly.