Recipe video above. Here's arguably the most famous crab recipe in the world: Singapore Chilli Crab! For the pinnacle of the experience, make this using fresh, live mud crab that you clean and cut yourself, or ask the fish shop to cut the crab for you (make sure they save the tomalley "crab mustard", Note 8). Be prepared to get messy eating it (half the fun!) – and to be surprised at how quick it is to make! Flavour: The sauce is a bit spicy but not excessively (Note 2 for adjustment). It is supposed to be a bit sweet, vinegary and intensely savoury. It gets massive flavour from the combination of crab juices, tomalley ("crab mustard", Note 8), belachan shrimp paste, and the soy bean paste! The traditional sauce has bits of egg ribbson in it, and includes ketchup - yes, really!Serves 3 - 4 as a meal with rice and some vegetables.
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.
Plating up and serving:
Transfer crab pieces into a large serving plate or shallow dish. Pour over all the sauce from the pot. Garnish with coriander and green onion.
Serve with golden mantou buns (steamed and fried Chinese buns, traditional - Note 7), or homemade brioche (ultimate sub!), baguette, crusty bread or dinner rolls. Alternatively serve with rice on the side.
How to eat: Be prepared to get messy! Dive in for the claw (the prime piece!). Use crab or nut crackers to break the shell (or a meat tenderiser or hammer - anything to get to that meat!!) and reveal hunks of sweet juicy crab meat. Dunk generously in sauce and devour.
Leftover Sauce: You will have leftover sauce. It's loaded with flavour so save it, it's precious! See in post for ideas for how to use.
Notes
1. Crab -See separate post for how to clean and cut crab. You can use any large crabs, such as:
Australia – Mud crab, blue swimmer crab, spanner crab
US – Dungeness crab, rock crab, stone crab
UK – Brown crab, spider crab
In order of preference: Live crab; fresh but dead; frozen but raw. Pre-cooked crab won't work here, the sauce will lack flavour.If using live crab, for the absolute best experience, keep it alive until just before cooking. Details are in the post for how to prepare the crab.IMPORTANT - Getting the crab cut for you: If the seafood store offers a service to cut the crab up for you, make sure you request the "tomalley" ("Crab mustard") be reserved as this is one of the secret ingredients that's make the sauce so incredible! See Note 8 for more information.Alternative to crab: Make this with prawns/shrimp instead!! Use 1.5 - 1.75 kg / 3 - 3.5lb of whole prawns. Toss into the sauce whole and cook for 5 minutes. It's amazing! (There's no tomalley to reserve with prawns, and no sub, you don't need it!)2. Chilli - Large chillis are less spicy. To reduce spiciness, just use less chilli and/or remove the seeds (the seeds are spicy!). If you change your mind at the end, you can add a dash of hot sauce to dial up the spice factor.3. Taucu paste - Available at large grocery stores in Australia (Woolies), this is a fermented yellow soy bean paste that adds complex savoury flavour into the sauce. Substitute with 1 tbsp miso paste + 1/2 tsp sugar.4. Eschalot – Also known as French onions, and are called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions which we also use in this recipe! Sub with 1/2 red onion.5. Belachan - Dried shrimp paste used extensively in South East Asian cooking. It isn't the most pleasant smell, but adds a ton of savoury umami into the dish! Once cooked however, the smell dissipates and it will be transformed. It is sold at large grocery stores in Australia (Woolies, Coles) or Asian stores. This is a secret ingredient, so really try not to skip it. Best substitute: Bottled shrimp paste, use 2 tablespoons (you need this much because flavour is not as intense).6. Tomato passata - This is pureed, strained tomatoes, sometimes labelled Tomato Puree in the US. Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. It is smooth and thick rather than chunky like canned tomato, which means you don’t need simmer it for a long time to break down the tomato. See here for more information on passata.7. “Golden” mantou buns - Steamed Chinese buns made of flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water that are fried. These are a traditional accompaniment with Singapore Chilli Crab, excellent for dunking in the sauce! You can find them at some Asian stores. Alternatively, serve with a baguette, crusty bread or dinner rolls.Steamed white rice is also another option.8. Tomalley - This yellow and green substance from inside the crab is actually the liver and pancreas. Affectionately known as crab “mustard” or “crab fat”, it’s packed with intense crab flavour and is not to be wasted!It's the secret ingredient that makes the sauce for Singapore Chilli Crab so good!9. What to do with leftover Singapore Chilli Crab Sauce - This stuff is absolutely packed with flavour, don't waste a drop! It will freeze for 3 months, or keep it in the fridge for 5 days. Ideas for use:
Toss through hot noodles or even pasta (this is my favourite)
Dipping sauce (bread or spring rolls or rice paper rolls)
Quickly stir fry some prawns / shrimp and stir through sauce for a fast meal
10. Leftover Singapore Chilli Crab - Strange to think it might happen, but it can! It will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Just reheat gently in the microwave.