Chilicrab Recipes

SINGAPOREAN CHILE CRAB

Steps:

• Wash crabs and separate claws from body. Crack the shell and cut the body into 4 to 6 pieces.
• In a large bowl, mix together ketchup, water, cornstarch, and soy sauce.
• Heat skillet and the oil, stir in garlic and shallots. Fry the garlic and shallots for 1 to 2 minutes before adding the chili. Fry another 2 minutes. Add crab pieces and fry until they turn red, about 4 minutes.
• Stir sauce mixture into the skillet until the crabs are well coated. Cover the skillet and let simmer on high heat, for 7 minutes or until the shells turn bright red.
• Remove cover and stir in the lime juice. Stir in beaten egg until it is fully cooked. Turn the heat off and stir in green onions.

SINGAPORE CHILLI CRAB

Steps:

• Prepare crab: See separate tutorial for how to clean and cut a whole crab. You will end up with: 1) Crab pieces; and 2) Reserved tomalley ("crab mustard", Note 8) and crab juices in a separate bowl. This is a key "secret ingredient" used to flavour the sauce.
• Chilli paste: Place ingredients in a small food processor or Nutribullet. Blitz until it's a fairly smooth paste.
• Sauté belachan: Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add belachan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. It will smell pungent (to put it mildly), but have faith! It will mellow and transform!
• Cook off chilli paste: Add chilli paste and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
• Add tomato passata: Add tomato passata and cook, stirring regularly, for 4 minutes.
• Add remaining sauce ingredients: Add sweet chilli sauce, ketchup, water and stir to combine.
• Add claws: Add the crab claws first (they take longer to cook), stir to coat in sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover with a lid and cook 3 minutes.
• Add "crab mustard" and juices: Add the reserved tomalley ("crab mustard") along with all the crab juices.
• Add remaining crab pieces: Remove lid, add remaining crab pieces and any juices that have collected in this bowl. Stir pieces to coat, put the lid back on and cook for 7 minutes.
• Remove crab: Use tongs to remove crab pieces into a bowl.
• Egg ribbons: With the sauce still on the stove, and while stirring in a circular motion, pour the egg in a thin stream into the middle of the pot. This will create little ribbons of egg in the sauce that is traditional and look lovely.
• Vinegar: Stir in vinegar.
• Return crab: Return the crab pieces into the pot, gently stir to coat in the sauce.

CHILI CRAB

Steps:

• In a casserole or large pot of boiling salted water, add the crabs and cook them for about 1 minute, or until no longer moving. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• To clean the crabs pull off top shells; pull and twist off each apron; remove gills. With sharp knife cut crabs into quarters, rinse and drain.
• In mortor and pestle or small food processor pound or process chiles, garlic, shallots and ginger with a little oil if necessary.
• Combine all sauce ingredients.
• Heat a wok over moderately high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and heat until hot. Add chili and garlic paste and stir-fry 1 minute. Add crabs and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes or until shells turn red. Add sauce ingredients, bring to boil and simmer, covered, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer crabs to serving dish.
• Bring sauce in wok to a boil. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to wok. Simmer until thickened. Gradually add eggs in a stream, whisking, and cook for 1 minute. Pour sauce over crabs and garnish with scallion.

CHILE CRAB

Steps:

• For the juice:
• Heat the water in a small pan and add the ginger pieces. Bring to the boil, add the rock sugar, and let the juice simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, before serving.
• For the sauce:
• Add the water, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch, to a bowl, and mix well. Set aside.
• For the crab:
• Heat a wok over a high heat and add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic, ginger, chiles, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the crab to the wok and stir-fry for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the chile sauce, and cook for 1 minute, then add the water and lime juice.
• For the egg noodles:
• Combine the noodles and the chile flakes and adjust their seasonings with the soy sauce. Toss the ingredients, and then stir in half of the spring onions and half of the chopped cilantro.
• To serve, plate the crab with the egg noodles and top with the remaining spring onion slices and cilantro. Serve immediately with a shot glass of Ginger 'Juice.'

FATTY CRAB'S CHILI CRAB

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk the chili sauce, soy sauce, sugar, rice-wine vinegar, tomato paste and sesame oil with 1 1/4 cups water and reserve.
• Place the shallots, garlic, ginger and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water.
• Heat the peanut oil in a wok over high heat, and when it shimmers, add the shallot paste and fry for 30 seconds until very fragrant. Add the crabs and 1/3 of the chili sauce, and when the liquid simmers, continue to cook for 2 minutes, shaking the pan to cover the crabs with the sauce.
• Add the remaining chili sauce to the pan, and when it reaches a simmer, turn the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and continue to simmer vigorously about 8 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch paste, and when the liquid in the pan thickens, turn off the heat. Add the egg yolk and stir again to combine. Divide the crabs and sauce among 4 plates, sprinkle with the chopped scallions and serve immediately, with crab picks and many napkins.

SINGAPORE CHILLI CRAB RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Prepare the crab by removing the base flap, then pull off the head and clear out the cavity. Keep the head in a bowl. Moving to the body of the crab, remove the gills, which are an opaque brown colour on both sides of the crab. Using a sharp knife, cut the crab in half down the middle, then divide into six parts. Using the knife, crack the crab legs open to allow the flavours to enhance while cooking. Add to the bowl with the head then set aside.
• In a food processor, add shallots, ginger, red chillies, garlic, ketchup, and shrimp paste, then pulse until it comes together and forms a paste.
• Heat oil in a wok over medium heat, then once it comes up to temperature fry add the chilli paste and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the crab pieces into the wok and stir until they are fully coated. Give the crab time to start turning orange, approximately 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato puree, chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce and palm sugar, then stir until completely mixed. The crab should be fully orange by now. Add a lid on top and allow the mixture to simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove the crab legs and head, and plate up on a shallow dish.
• Add butter, spring onions, and egg. Let the egg sit for a minute before stirring, then give the sauce a quick stir. The sauce should thicken up quickly.
• Pour the sauce on top of the crab and garnish with a few sprigs of coriander.
• Enjoy!

COCONUT CHILI CRAB

Steps:

• Lift top hard shell from crabs and use fingers to scrape insides. Wash, then split in half.
• Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat then stir-fry the crab pieces in batches until they turn pinky red. Remove and set aside.
• In the same wok, stir fry garlic, ginger and chili for 1 minute.
• Add the juice, waer, sauces and paste and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Blend in the coconut cream.
• Bring to the boil then return the crab to the wok.
• Simmer covered, for 4-5 minutes, adding a little water if the sauce reduces too much.
• Stir in the coriander and onions, then serve at once over steamed rice.

SINGAPOREAN CHILI CRAB

Steps:

• Chili Crab Sauce:
• Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl (or 22-quart plastic Cambro containers, like we do) until it becomes one unified homogenous mixture of red chili sauce. It should taste spicy, sweet, and savory and not too ketchup-y.
• Prepare the crab:
• Clean crab and cut into pieces. If you have never done this before, this might sound easier said than done, but it's not nearly as daunting as it seems.
• In a debate of "humane" ways of killing crab: the Asian preparation of crab is a near-instant killing of the crab versus the longer and drawn out steaming/boiling method. Additionally, the boiling method tends to result in a much fishier "crabby" flavor, not as fresh tasting as with this method. If you look up videos on YouTube, look up "How to kill a live crab humanely," which will demonstrate this way of breaking down a crab.
• With that said, I wasn't as prepared in the photograph process, so I'm going to personally walk you through this as the first "Crab Killer" at Starry Kitchen:
• Quick tips: Put crabs in the freezer or refrigerator before breaking down. It will make them sleepy-slow them down very severely. There is also a way one of our cooks, Sean, uncovered on the web to gently pet a soft spot on their shell over and over and they'll start falling asleep. We've seen it. It's crazy, but it takes a lot longer than the freezer method.
• Next, when you're ready, you're going to need a decently sharp knife for this process or at least one with a sharp tip for this next step: try to grab the crab from the tail end, and flip the crab over, claws and eyes pointing away from you, and so it's belly-side up. If you look at its abdomen right in the center, you'll see a longer triangular lip (top of it pointing away from you) that can actually be lifted up. Until you're comfortable doing it often, you can use the tip of your knife to lift it up, but you'll want to use your hand to quickly just lift up and fold it over completely. The crab will potentially get VERY mad at this point. You've just exposed its most vulnerable spot.
• Then, this part is simple if you can move quickly: just stab it downward right through that spot that's been exposed until you reach the shell. Hold for about 10-20 seconds. The crab should die almost instantly.
• Afterwards, line your knife across the middle, and firmly press down and cleave it through the abdomen to cut the crab in half. The crab will snap in half once you come all the way down. You'll also be able to pull the crab by each of its claws, and it'll just come apart.
• You'll then want to turn each half over, and remove the white gills off of each and dispose.
• Dispose of the lip, and any other loose appendages from the front and back end of the crab.
• Dispose of the white film and any black matter inside the shell itself, but do not clean out the rest of the shell. That orange part, the coral, the fatty tissue is the MOST coveted part of the crab in Asian households (typically held for the father, no joke). It's like sea urchin/uni, really rich and very briny...and super-awesome to put rice into once it's cooked and scoop it out with. Yummers!
• Depending on how large your crab is, the two halves of crab legs can be broken into either 2 or 3 sections (there should be a minimum of 2 legs per section) using the same cleaving action as you did to halve the crab.
• And that's it! (If YouTube, this, and the web doesn't help you feel more comfortable-seriously, feel free to reach out to us: @starrykitchen. This dish is COMPLETELY worth it.)
• To make the Chili Crab:
• Now clean the crab legs again, then pat dry with paper towels. Put into a big bowl with cornstarch, but make sure to leave enough room to coat crab with starch.
• Diligently dredge all exposed crab pieces including the coral and head, inside and out, with starch. Next, shake off excess starch, but make sure all of the exposed (non-shelled) parts are covered in starch. This seals in all of the crab's flavors throughout the cooking process. This is especially important if you need to prepare in advance.
• Fill a wok/pot with 2 to 3 inches cooking oil, enough to submerge crab pieces, including the head. Heat oil to 350°F over high heat, then carefully fry in batches, arranging crab pieces in a single layer in the oil. Turn over pieces with tongs to fry evenly.
• When the crab pieces turn red all over and the battered parts are golden, remove and shake the excess oil over your pot. Set aside (we like to set crab on a rack/grate and baking sheet to allow a little bit more oil to drip off). Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
• Once you're ready to make your chili crab, heat a wok/pan on high heat and add 1 tablespoon cooking oil per crab. Sauté garlic, shallots, ginger, and chiles until aromatic (enough to make you cough-that's how you know you got the GOOD stuff). Next, add the beautiful monstrosity that is your crab. Stir quickly for 10 to 15 seconds, then add Chili Crab Sauce. Cover, cook over high heat, and cook that bad boy (or girl) for 7 minutes.
• Keep the pan over heat, but remove crab from pan and place on a serving dish. While reconstructing your sea beast, make sure to leave all the sauce in the wok/pan. Crack eggs into the sauce, and quickly mix to fully incorporate them and thicken the sauce. Increase to high heat and reduce sauce to desired thickness. (I like it pretty thick and a little bit gloppy GOOD.) Once done, remove from heat, and pour sauce all over the crab. Garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro. Serve with Buttermilk Beer Beignets. Break down the crab, sop up all that sauce, and eat like a Singaporean king!

CHILLI CRAB

Steps:

• If crabs live, put in freezer for 10 minutes to stun.
• Remove back shell and clean spongy bits and brown stuff, clean in water.
• Cut in half lengthwise.
• Remove claws from body and hit with blunt side of a cleaver to crack in several places.
• Cut the halves into two or three pieces leaving legs attached.
• Pound ginger and chili until they form a paste, or zap in the food processor or blender.
• Mix soy sauce, sugar, water (or stock), tomato sauce and chili sauce (if using) in a small jug.
• Put oil in a large hot pan or wok and over a medium heat fry ginger/chili mix for a few minutes.
• Add the crab pieces and stir fry at a higher heat till crab pieces turn red.
• Add liquid mixture and bring back up to the boil, add sesame oil, lower heat to medium and cover with lid for a few minutes giving the occasional stir.
• Garnish with sliced spring onion.
• Don't forget the finger bowls and a bowl in the middle for the shells and lots of paper serviettes/napkins.

SINGAPORE CHILLI CRAB

Steps:

• The crab must be prepared before stir-frying (you can ask your fishmonger to do this). This involves removing the claws, the main shell, discarding the dead man's fingers, then cutting the body into four pieces, and cracking the claws and the legs so the sauce can get through to the meat.
• Heat the oil in a large wok and sizzle the garlic, ginger and chopped chillies for 1 min or until fragrant. Add the ketchup, soy and 100ml water, and stir to combine. Throw in the crab, turn up the heat and stir-fry for 3-5 mins or until the crab is piping hot and coated in the sauce. Stir through most of the coriander, spring onions and sliced chilli.
• Use tongs to arrange the crab on a serving dish, pour over the sauce from the pan and scatter over the remaining coriander, spring onions and sliced chilli. Serve with rice or bao buns, and a lot of napkins.

MALAYSIAN-STYLE GINGER-CHILE CRAB

Steps:

• If using live crabs, pour water in a large pot to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, add crabs, turn heat to medium-high, cover and steam until crabs are bright orange-red and all the blue-green color is gone, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and rinse under cold running water. (If using precooked crabs, skip to Step 2.)
• Clean the crabs: Grasp the top shell at the front, pull it away from the body and discard it. Turn the crab over, pry off the triangular apron and discard it, along with the spongy white gills. Grab the legs and claws close to the body, twist them off, and crack the claws lightly with a hammer. Discard the legs (or, if you are a crab fanatic, suck the meat out of them). You want to end up with a body and 2 claws, including knuckles, from each crab. Snap the body in half, using a chef's knife to cut through the shell if necessary.
• In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add half the crab bodies and claws and sauté, tossing frequently with your tongs, for about 3 minutes. Add half of each of the remaining ingredients, except the salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute more.
• Remove everything from pan, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and repeat with remaining crabs and ingredients. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve warm or room temperature, with nutcrackers and picks.