Singapore Chilli Crab

I saw a recipe for chilli crab the other week and I really wanted to do my own version of the dish. I loved the idea of combining heat, sweet and saltiness to a “tear and share” dish. The crab makes this dish ideal to share with friends if you have more than one crab, however I would avoid it if you’re on a first date it doesn’t make for pretty eating! But that might be just a comment on my eating elegance. As a side note I try support local ingredients and products as much as I can; with this in mind I made the dish using Yorkshire Tomato Ketchup, which I genuinely love and think is better than the 57 varieties option. If you are interested I picked it up at the farmers market held on the Briggate in Leeds City Centre. Anyway…

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  What you need:

  • 1 whole pre-cooked crab
  • 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup 
  • 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
  • A stem of lemon grass
  • A bunch coriander 
  • 3 spring onions 
  • 2 inch of ginger
  • A splash of dark soy sauce 
  • A lime 
  • 3 red chillies 

  
  

  How to make it:
  

  1. Start by making the sauce; get a large frying pan on a medium heat, add 2 tbsp of veg/sunflower oil. Throw in 2 sliced up chillies, lemon grass, spring onions and batons of ginger. Fry for 2 mins.
  2. Add in the sauces (tomato, oyster and soy; the soy dictates the overall saltiness of the dish so add to your own taste) and the juice of half a lime.  The sauce will be very thick so thin it down with 150 ml of water from the tap. Simmer the sauce while preparing the crab.
  3. The crab is already cooked so we just want to warm it through by steaming it. To do that take a large sauce pan and place a heat proof bowl in the bottom of it. On this bowl balance a small plate for the crab to sit on. Now the kit is set up it’s time to start cooking. To the pan add water, enough to get ½ way up the bowl and place on a high heat - you want the water to boil. Once boiling place your crab on the plate and put a lid on your sauce pan. Steam for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of your crab.
  4. -Meanwhile if your sauce thickens add more water. You want the consistency of cream-
  5. Once your crab is warmed through pull off the claws and legs and crack the shell using the back of a large knife; this allows you to get at the white meat (don’t use your best knife in case you damage it). With the main body of the crab pull the top away from the bottom and remove the dead man’s fingers; these are the crab’s lungs and are not poisonous as some people suggest online, however they do not make for good eating (I have inserted a pic of the lungs, reference at the bottom).
  6. Using your large knife break the main body (top and bottom) of the crab in half to get at the brown meat.
  7. Finally scoop up all your crab (minus the dead man’s fingers and shards of shell) and throw it into your sauce. Toss the crab through the sauce to get an even coating and serve on a large platter / plate. Over the top scatter another sliced chilli, coriander and a couple of finely sliced spring onions.

  

  Dead man's fingers

  -serve with rice / noodles. To flavour you noodles these could be pre-cooked and tossed through the sauce as well-
  
  

  Reference
  http://feedetgastro.wordpress.com/ (this is an amazing food blog by a true foodie!)