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Prep time
30 minutes
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Cook time
25 minutes
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Serves
4 to 6 as a main
Author Notes
Singaporean Chili Crab is a crab dish that we love to eat for special occasions back home. It is usually enjoyed as a joyous communal eating experience when we have overseas visitors or key milestones celebrations at seafood restaurants. It is a messy affair of slurping and licking with fingers all in. We like to joke that eating Singaporean Chili Crab is not a first date food as you have to go all in to enjoy this crustacean wonder.
It is not just about eating the crab. The sauce that envelops the crab shell and all is extra delicious with all the spicy bold umami that gets cooked into the sauce. Think of it like spicy umami crab dip! We generally have crusty baguettes or 炸馒头 deep fried Chinese Mantou bread to sop up all the sauce.
This recipe I'm sharing is our family's take on making Singapore Chili Crab here in Portland, Oregon. I like to think of cooking in terms of ratio for proportions so these are a few of the hacks I would suggest in making this dish. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
-Use one jar of OMG! Sambal to one Dungeness crab.
-Use canned, organic tomato sauce if you don’t want to make it from scratch.
-You’ll need about 4 eggs per crab. Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Sometimes I add more because the eggs are smaller or the crabs release more liquid when they cook.
—Holly Ong
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Singaporean Chili Crab
Ingredients
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1
(2-pound) Dungeness crab, preferably live
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1
(9-ounce) jar OMG! Sambal
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Vegetable cooking oil, for frying
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1
1 knob fresh ginger, julienned
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4
cloves of garlic, minced
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1 1/2
15-ounce cans organic tomato sauce (can also use homemade sauce)
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1 1/2 tablespoons
organic white distilled vinegar or rice vinegar
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1 teaspoon
sugar
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1/4 cup
Shaoxing wine
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4
large eggs, beaten
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Fish sauce, optional
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Cilantro, to garnish
Directions
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Steam, clean and trim crabs to size. Keep the steam water from cooking the crabs. The steam water is secret umami stock if you end up needing some more liquid during the cooking process. It's like saving a cup of pasta water to use if things look dry when you mix pasta with the paired sauce.
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Heat the wok or deep-sided saucepan you’re planning to cook the crab in. You’re cooking at high heat for the entire time, so do make sure all ingredients are on hand and ready to use.
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Heat about 2 Tbsp of oil in the pan and add the entire jar of sambal and ginger. Stir fry till the sambal caramelizes and darkens more. Then add the garlic. You should be able to smell the sambal mix at this stage.
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Next add the tomato sauce. Cook till everything is bubbling. This is when you add the vinegar (about 1.5Tb) and sugar (about 1 Tsp) to taste. If the mixture looks too chunky, add a bit of the crab steam water. You need the consistency of a pasta pomodoro sauce before you add the crab in and put the lid on. If the sauce is a bit thick, use the previously saved steamed crab water to thin it out a bit. Once you put the crab in, it should cook in about 5 to 8 minutes.
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Halfway through, stir the crab to coat all of it with the gravy. Add the Shaoxing wine. Just before the crab is cooked, pour the eggs into the mix, circling the entire wok. Resist the urge to stir. Wait for the eggs to start bubbling and then stir, it’s a scrambled eggs in tomato sauce consistency you’re looking for.
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Taste at this stage to see if you need fish sauce. Usually the crab and crab water will add enough umami salt you don’t need to add any.
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All that’s left is to plate, garnish with cilantro and enjoy licking and slurping the crab meat and don't forget to sop up the spicy crabby gravy with your choice of bread!!
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