CHILLI CRAB

[SBB]

CHILLI CRAB

Ingedients
1 x 1kg Mud Crab
1/3 cup peanut oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped Ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped Garlic
½ cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
1/3 cup of water

Preparing The Crab
Place crab in ice slurry until totally immobile
Remove top shell of the crab
Twist off legs and claws
Remove the feathery gills and other internals.
Using a knife chop the body into four
Crack the claws with a good hit with the back of a heavy knife



Method of Cooking
Heat the oil in a wok and cook a quarter of the crab for 2 mins or until it changes colour, remove to a bowl
Cook the remaining crab in batches adding them to the bowl.
Add the ginger and garlic to the oil in the wok cook gently till golden brown.
Add tomato sauce, sambal oelek, brown sugar and water.
Bring to the boil, simmer about 3 mins or until oil rises to the surface.
Add the crab and cook turning for 8 mins.
Serve with steamed rice.


A Few Notes.
Above is the original recipe.

We have made a ton of this stuff over the last 15 years, sometimes batches big enough to feed forty plus people.
A few handy hints I have learnt are.
The original recipe is a bit short on the chilli sauce mix…..I usually double the amount of water, sugar, tomato sauce, sambal oelek, ginger, garlic and oil  regardless of the size batch Im cooking . This also increases the amount of oil and makes the deep frying bit easier and faster.
Dont panic about all that tomato sauce, once its all cooked up ya wont know its there.
Take care cracking claws, don’t smash them…you don’t want all the meat to fall out when cooking,
Really big claws should be cooked a little longer than 3 mins.
The little legs (not the claws) really only need to be tossed around in the oil until they turn red. Cooked to long they go dry inside
Twist legs off rather than pull, if you pull you also pull half the meat out of the body section.
Cooked this way served with rice one good sized mud crab will feed 2 people…..no matter weather you are feeding 2 or 40
Sambal Oelek varies in heat from brand to brand, the BEST brand I have found is “KOKITA brand” its hard to find but worth grabbing if you see it.
Palm Sugar is available at asian stores and is used in this dish traditionally. The dark brown type has more flavour than the lighter coloured one.
Chilli Crab is the National dish of Singapore.

[R-sole]

I do the same recipe except i use palm sugar and also have a tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of sweet chilli sauce and a teaspoon of salt in mine.

I use the sauce for stacks of things, use only a little oil when you make it some sesame oil is good. Then do small deepfried marinated and battered chicken or pork bites and toss in the sauce and serve with rice. Or slices of chinese bbq pork, or brush chicken wings in the oven once 3/4 cooked.

Ad fresh chillis for a better, fresher chilli taste.


One of my basic goto sauces that i know off by heart.

[SBB]

The lack of palm sugar was a typo 5Star...it is mentioned down near the bottom. I have never bothered to play around with the recipe as most love it the way it is. I do at times add a few fresh chillis

[audistiller]

Living in the Northwest of WA, and having a good supply of mudcrabs, a mates wife makes an awesome chilli mudcrab that would blow you away SBB. Its truly a feast fit for a king, and probably one of the best dishes I have ever had.

[SBB]

Well try this one...........see which is better and report back.

[Kimbo]

Well try this one...........see which is better and report back.

Which one? :teasing-tease:

[SBB]

The one at the top of the thread ya wacker

[Kimbo]

Ooh! that looks yummy :mrgreen:

[SBB]

Works ok with sand crabs/blue swimmers...or what ever they call em in WA....spanner crabs are better if ya can get em .......best ya catch a few n try it out Kimbo