Chili Crab
Singapore's sweet-heat icon: whole crab wok-tossed in a tomato and chile sauce that begs for fried mantou buns to drag through every last spoonful.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Chili Crab, in 5 ideas
- The sauce walks a line. Tomato sweetness, chile warmth, a whisper of vinegar, and egg ribbons stirred in at the end to silk it.
- Fresh crab is worth the hunt. The sauce is generous enough that mud crab, Dungeness or blue crab all shine in it.
- Crack the claws before saucing. So the meat comes away in the shell and the sauce gets into every crevice.
- Fried mantou are not a side, they are the delivery system. Order, bake or fry twice as many as you think you need.
- This is hands food. Sleeves up, bibs on, crackers and picks on the table, and no white shirts within range.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 whole crabs, about 3 lb total, cleaned and cut in pieces, claws cracked
- 3 tbsp oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 4 fresh red chiles, pounded, plus more to taste
- 1 cup tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Fried or steamed mantou buns, to serve
How to make it
Method
Heat the oil in a wok until shimmering. Fry the garlic, ginger and chiles for 1 minute, until fragrant and red in the oil.
Add the crab pieces and toss for 3 minutes, until the shells turn bright red at the edges.
Pour in the ketchup, sugar, vinegar and stock. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the crab is cooked through and the sauce is bubbling.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 1 minute, until the sauce turns glossy and coats the shells.
Drizzle in the beaten egg in a slow stream, stirring gently, so it sets in soft ribbons through the sauce.
Taste: it should be sweet first, warm second, with a bright edge of vinegar. Adjust with sugar, vinegar or chile.
Tip everything, sauce and all, onto a big platter. Serve with mantou for dragging through the sauce, and tools for the claws.
Chill live crabs in the freezer for 30 minutes before cleaning: it is the kindest dispatch and makes the work far easier.