Singaporean Chilli Crab recipe with step by step pictures. Spicy, sweet, tangy drool worthy Singaporean crab made using fresh ingredients. The sauce is thickened with a beaten egg crates silky texture, this addictive chilli crab goes well with fried mantou.
Singaporean Chilli Crab Recipe
Making Singaporean chilli crab at home is on my bucket list for a very long time. Last week when hubby bought me some fresh crab, I immediately got into action.
I have tried this dish during my Singapore trips and really loved the taste and flavour. So I did this recipe based on my tasting experience.
To my surprise it turned out to be super yum and finger licking good. We enjoyed a bowl of Singaporean crab with some toasted buns.
About Singaporean Chilli Crab
Chili crab was created in Singapore in the 1950s by Cher Yam Tian. This was the dish which she came up with in her own kitchen when cooking for her family and friends which became an instant hit.
They opened their first restaurant, Palm Beach Seafood. Since then, this dish has become very popular across Singapore.
Chilli crab is made with a bunch of fresh produce and sauces which create the balance of taste. The chilli crab is spicy, slightly sweet, tangy all at the same time which made it an instant hit.
Later people started adapting from the original recipe and started adding their own twist on it. Singaporean prawn is another popular recipe across Singapore which uses prawns instead of crab.
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Chilli Crab Dish is So Popular
Mud crabs are used in this dish. But any crab can be used as long as you crack the crab legs to make sure the sauce penetrates into the crab.
Singaporean chilli crab is made by sautéing a spice paste made with onions(shallots), lots of garlic, ginger and chillies.
Mud crabs from srilanka is used in this dish, but any crab can be added. Condiments like soy sauce, tomato paste, tomato ketchup is added.
The crab dish is adjusted with seasonings like salt and sugar to balance the taste. Finally it is thickened with cornstarch slurry and beaten egg.
This Singaporean crab is traditionally served with a fried steamed bun called as mantou.
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Make Best Singaporean Chilli Crab with these tips
Few tips you can follow for making best tasting chilli crab. If you don't have chicken stock, you can add some veg stock or water. Always taste and adjust sugar, salt level as per your taste. More over, Making this dish at home allows you to adjust the sweetness/heat level.
I used onions, but shallots are used in the original recipe. Shallots add sweetness to the dish.
Take care when cleaning crab. Cracking the crab legs are important because it make eating this dish more easy and the flavours will penetrate into the legs. Crabs need to be rinsed well, cleaned, and cut into pieces. I always keep the creamy part inside the top shell for the extra crab flavor it lends to the dish.
Most important, take care when eating the sauce it may have bits of shell.
Ingredients
- Crab - use Mud or Dungeness crabs for this dish. Large size crab makes it tasty and easy to eat.
- Spice paste - for spice paste, you need shallots, ginger, garlic and dry red chillies. traditionally fresh chillies is used, but you can use dry red chillies too, soak it first in hot water.
- Sauces - I used tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce, soy sauce for the sauce.
- Seasonings - salt, sugar is used for seasoning. You can add some lemon juice in the end for taste.
- Cornstarch - cornstarch helps thicken the sauce and create velvet like texture.
- Egg - one beaten egg is added into the sauce to create silky texture.
Step by Step Pictures
Clean Crab
1)Fresh mud crab or any variety of crab is used. Take your crabs and clean as you normally do (check my video for detailed instructions). You can ask your fish monger to clean the crab for you.
2)Remove gills from the crab
3)Rinse it well and cut in half.
4)Crack the crab legs gently so the sauce penetrates into the crab and set aside.
5)Crabs are prepared. Set aside till use.
Spice paste
6)These are Ingredients for spice paste. You need onions, dry red chilles, ginger, garlic.
7)If you are using fresh red chillies then you can skip this step. I like to use dry red chillies which I always have on hand. So I soaked the dry red chillies in hot water for 10 mins.
8)Take peeled onions or shallots in a food processor. Add in garlic, ginger, soaked dry red chillies and puree it into a coarse puree.
9)Don't add any water when grinding. Make sure it is coarsely crushed. Set aside till use.
Cooking Chilli Crab Base
10)Now let's make chilli crab. Heat a wok on high heat. Add in oil and spread it on all sides of the wok to season the wok. Let the oil heat. Now add in the spice paste which we made.
11)Cook the spice paste for 3 to 4 mins on medium high heat so the raw smell leaves and the spice paste gets cooked. Add in salt and sugar and stir for 1 min more.
Cooking Crab
12)Now add in the cleaned crab except the crab shell and toss well in the onion paste.
13)Now pour in the chicken stock and mix well.
14)Cover the wok with a lid and cook for 5 to 6 mins. Once the time is up, open the lid and check whether it is cooked.
15)Now add in the crab shell and gently spoon the sauce over it. Cover again and cook for 4 more mins.
15)Now lets add all the sauces. This is red chilli sauce.
16)Pour in soy sauce. You can use dark or light soy sauce.
17)Add in tomato ketchup. This is important for the taste.
18)Mix it gently and cook for another 5 mins. Now open the lid and stir in the cornstarch slurry (cornstarch + water) little at a time and give a good mix. The sauce will thicken instantly.
19)Once the sauce thickens. Crack open one egg in a bowl and whisk lightly. Pour in beaten egg slowly. Mix gently, once egg is added, the sauce will get even more thick and silky.
20)Add in half of the coriander leaves. Mix well, let it cook for few second.
21)Now in the end, add in coriander leaves and mix well.
22)Mix it once and simmer for 30 more seconds while mixing gently. Now turn off the heat. Serve hot.
22)Singaporean chilli crab is done. Serve with rice, toasted bread, steamed buns or mantou.
Expert Tips
- I used dry red chillies in this recipe. But if you can find fresh red chillies, you can use that. Thai Red Chillies can be used as well.
- The amount of chillies can be increased or decreased depending on your taste preferences.
- Cooking chilli crab in a large pot or wok is recommended because you need some room to stir all the crabs.
- Tomato paste can be added or fresh tomatoes can be added for more tanginess.
Serving Suggestions
Singaporean chilli crab can be served with some rice, toasted bread, buns or mantou.
FAQ
Fresh red chillies, Thai red chillies can be used in this dish.
Chilli crab can be eaten anyway you prefer. Some prefer removing the crab meat with chopsticks or fingers. You might also need something to crack open into the crab shell. In my experience relishing this dish needs patience and time since it takes a good amount of time to crack into the crab. Singaporean chilli crab can be served with some rice, toasted bread, buns or mantou.
Chilli crab is a Southeast Asian seafood dish that originated in Singapore in the 1950s.
If you are cleaning the crab. First open the top hard shell of the crab with the help of the flap which is located in the back of the crab. Reserve the crab shell which we will be using for the recipe. You can rinse it once under running tap water to remove any sand, grits or slimy stuff. Now remove the gills of the crab and wash the crab under running water to remove the slimy stuff present in the centre.
If your crab is large in size, you might need to remove the crab claws separately for easy mixing the dish. Remove the ends of the crab legs which practically doesn't have any meat. Once the crab is prepared, use a meat mallet or back of your knife to crack the crab legs a little so the sauce or juices can penetrate into the legs. Set this aside till use.
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Chilli Crab Recipe | Singaporean Chilli Crab Recipe | Singaporean Crab Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large Mud or Dungeness crabs prepared (around 750 grams)
- 500 ml Chicken Stock
- 1 teaspoon Salt (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Red Chilli Sauce
- 2 teaspoon Soy Sauce
- ½ cup Tomato Ketchup
- 2 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 Egg
- ¼ cup Coriander leaves A handful
- ¼ cup Peanut Oil
For Spice Paste
- 1 large Onion (10 Shallots)
- 20 Cloves Garlic peeled
- 2 inch Ginger peeled
- 15 no Dry Red chillies
Instructions
Preparing Crab
- Fresh mud crab or any variety of crab is used. Take your crabs and clean as you normally do (check my video for detailed instructions). You can ask your fish monger to clean the crab for you.
- Or if you are preparing the crab, follow my video for detailed steps. First open the top hard shell of the crab with the help of the flap which is located in the back of the crab. Reserve the crab shell which we will be using for the recipe. You can rinse it once under running tap water to remove any sand, grits or slimy stuff. Now remove the gills of the crab and wash the crab under running water to remove the slimy stuff present in the centre.
- If your crab is large in size, you might need to remove the crab claws separately for easy mixing the dish. Remove the ends of the crab legs which practically doesn't have any meat. Once the crab is prepared, use a meat mallet or back of your knife to crack the crab legs a little so the sauce or juices can penetrate into the legs. Set this aside till use.
Spice paste for chilli crab
- If you are using fresh red chillies then you can skip this step. I like to use dry red chillies which I always have on hand. So I soaked the dry red chillies in hot water for 10 mins. You can remove the seeds from the dry red chillies if you want to cut down the spice level. Remove the stems from the dry red chillies and tap of the dried seeds from it. Now you can soak the chillies in hot water for 10 mins to dehydrate the chillies.
- Take peeled onions or shallots in a food processor. Add in garlic, ginger, soaked dry red chillies and puree it into a coarse puree. Set aside till use.
Prepreparation
- Mix ¼ cup of cold water with 2 teaspoon cornstarch and set aside. Whisk 1 egg and set this aside. If you are using chicken stock cube, mix it with some hot water and set aside. Chop up a bunch of coriander leaves.
Making Chilli Crab
- Now let's make chilli crab. Heat a wok on high heat. Add in oil and spread it on all sides of the wok to season the wok. Let the oil heat. Now add in the spice paste which we made. Cook the spice paste for 3 to 4 mins on medium high heat so the raw smell leaves and the spice paste gets cooked.
- Add in salt and sugar and stir for 1 min more. Now add in the cleaned crab while reserving the top shell which we will be using later. Now toss the crab into the masala and stir fry for 2 mins. Now pour in the chicken stock and mix well. Cover the wok with a lid and cook for 5 to 6 mins.
- Now add in the crab shell and gently spoon the sauce over it. Cover again and cook for 4 more mins. Once the time is up, open the lid and stir in red chilli sauce, tomato ketchup and soy sauce. Mix it well.
- Now open the lid and stir in the cornstarch slurry little at a time and give a good mix. The sauce will thicken instantly. Add in beaten egg slowly and half of the coriander leaves. Mix it once and simmer for 30 more seconds while mixing gently. Now turn off the heat. Add the final half of the coriander leaves and mix well.
- Serve with rice, toasted bread, steamed buns or mantou.
Video
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