The prime source of happiness in the Lion City, this Singaporean meaty delight Chilli crab secured the 35th spot on the world’s 50 most delicious foods in the year 2011 by CNN GO. Crowned as the national dish of Singapore by the Tourism Ministry of Singapore, this lip-smacking Chilli Crab is widely sold all over the City of Gardens. Let's learn about Chilli Crab Origin, it's taste and the authentic Singaporean Chilli Crab Recipe.
A little about Chilli Crab Origin:
Sixty years ago, Cher yam tian and her hubby Lim Choo Ngee started selling their innovative styled stir-fried crabs cooked with bottled chilli and tomato sauce in a pushcart along the seaside and that’s where this delightful dish took birth. They made a successful business out of this and in the year 1962 opened a restaurant named Palm beach at 514, Upper East Coast Road. After almost 20 years they sold some of their business shares and moved to New Zealand.
HooikokWah known as the “Heavenly Kings” of Chinese cuisine is also considered the leader in the history of Chilli crab in Singapore. He designed a sourer version of this dish in his restaurant – Dragon Phoenix- in the year 1963 using vinegar, lime juice, egg white, sambal, and tomato paste and this became the standard and widely famous recipe of Chilli Crab.
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But owing to the Chilli Crab's divine taste the Chilli Crab Origin has garnered some controversies wherein the Malaysian Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen claimed that chilli crab is originally from Malaysia and that others have illegally seized it. But as a fact, it’s been almost 8 years since then that this claim has not been proved by any evidence.
How does Chilli Crab Taste:
The spicy and sensuous chilli-tomato gravy, calls for a celebration for your taste buds the moment you taste it. The feathery crab tastes divine with the sweet and slightly spicy chilli sauce. You simply won’t be able to forget its mouth-watering flavors and would definitely want to try it at home. From Chilli Crab Recipe Malaysian to Chilli Crab Recipe Indian to Singapore Chilli Crab Recipe to Chilli Crab Chinese Style Recipe there are lots you can try. I have explained the recipe the way it is cooked all over Singapore in these days or the Singapore Chilli Crab Recipe. However, you are free to think out of the box and create your version of chilli crab, after all its a free world!
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List of Ingredients you'll need to make Singapore Chilli Crab:
- 1 large live and cleaned mud crab
- 60ml vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 250ml tomato passata
- 250 ml fish stock or chicken stock or water
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp finely grated palm sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 20g butter
- 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
- 3 spring onions. Only the green part cut into 5cm pieces
- Fresh coriander and red chilli for garnishing
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For making the base paste:
- Thinley sliced brown onions
- 4-5 garlic pods
- 5-6 red chillies deseeded
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp belacan or shrimp paste
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How Do you make the Authentic Singapore Chili Crab?
- First, we heat the wok with oil until it is smoking hot.
- Next, we’ll put in our mud crabs after assiduously cleaning and cutting them into quarter halves.
- Now we’ll fry our crabs until its crisp golden brown and keep it on a tissue paper so that it absorbs the excess oil from our crabs.
- Now we’ll make a smooth blend of the base ingredients and heat wok with oil over medium flame.
- We’ll slowly pour in the paste and cook it on medium heat until we can smell its fragrance and see the oil separating.
- Now we’ll add in the crabs including the shells and keep stirring until our crabs are perfectly red and cooked.
- After that, we’ll enrich our dish with some tomato passata, vinegar, stock, soy sauce and sugar.
- To ensure that these ingredients mix meticulously we’ll stir our food for approximately 10 minutes.
- Now we’ll sprinkle our perfectly trimmed green onions and stir it for some more time.
- Here, we have reached the final stage of our dish. At this point taste the gravy and adjust the salt and seasoning according to your needs.
- Now it’s time to pour the cornflour and cold water blend and the beaten egg one by one so that our gravy becomes thicker and tastier.
- Stir it for some time and then turn off the flame ‘coz the amazing delight is cooked. Now go ahead and plate it the way you want. Don’t hesitate to sprinkle some fresh coriander and serving it with some red chillies.
Pat on your back for cooking this delightful and authentic Singaporean Chilli Crab all by yourself in your home and also learning about the Chilli Crab Origin and taste. Have a great time sharing this spicy and juicy crab with all your hungry friends and family and give them a reason to be truly happy. Don’t forget to share this recipe with your other friends and keep reading my other blogs to cook more cuisines from all over the world.
Happy cooking and eating. Enjoy! 🙂