EASY CHILLI CRAB RECIPE- A SIMPLE CHILI CRAB

Chili crab or chili crab is one of the most popular crab dishes among Malaysians and also our neighboring country Singapore. This dish is said to originate from Singapore and was created by a married couple in 1956. They originally traded in a stall only and later grew into the Palm Beach Seafood restaurant on Upper East Cost Road.

Nipah crab is usually used to cook chili crab because it is fuller than flower crab. Although named chili crab, in fact this dish is not as spicy but more sweet and sour because it is based on tomato sauce.

Each restaurant has its own recipe and there will be differences. Some will fry the crabs first and some will continue to cook the crabs in the sauce only. Many might have thought chili crab or chili crab a difficult and complicated dish, but actually quite simple and can be prepared at home for the family. Here I share my mother -in -law’s recipe that became our family’s favorite. Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

1 Kg Ketam
3 shallots (sliced)
7 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 cm ginger (sliced)
1 an egg
3 tablespoons ground dried chillies
3 tablespoons chili sauce
5 tablespoons of tomato sauce
4 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoons of salt
1 a small blade of a barbecue ( If you want )
Chinese celery leaves
Slices of red chilli

Method

1. Wash the crabs and cut to the size you like. Tap the crab chopsticks before cooking to make it easier to eat.
2. Heat a little oil and sauté the small onions until wilted.
3. Add the chopped garlic and ginger. Fry so that the edges of the onions are crisp and yellow.
4. Add the ground dried chillies and sauté over medium heat so that they do not burn. Push the sauteed ingredients aside into the center of the pan.
5. When the stir -fry has started to look dry , crunchy and darker, Enter the crab.
6. Mix so that the stir -fry is completely coated on each piece of crab.
7. Add 1 cup or 250ml of water, 3 tablespoons chili sauce and 5 tablespoons of tomato sauce.
8. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes depending on the size of the crab.
9. The gravy will look a little thick. Add 4 teaspoon of sugar ( can be reduced if desired ) and 1 teaspoons of salt.
10. If you like , can add 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder.
11. Stir and flip the crab. Add another 125ml of water ( 1/2 cups ) , cover and simmer for 4-6 minutes more.
12. Beat 1 egg yolks and add little by little while stirring the sauce quickly so that the eggs mix with the sauce evenly.
13. Add a little stew and red chili as a garnish.
14. Chili crab ready to serve.