I am running behind in my posts, so apologies for that but things have just gotten away from me with Christmas approaching. Singapore Chilli Mud Crab……. insert Homer drool………. yummy!!
This is a tried and tested recipe of mine, well adapted from a Chilli Lobster recipe in Stephanie Alexander’s “The Cook’s Companion” which Stephanie based on a recipe from Violet Oon of Singapore. So who knows if my adaptation is actually closer for further away from Violet’s original recipe?
I do love the whole process of this recipe, from going to the fish mongers to purchase the crabs right thought to getting incredibly messy eating the final product. It is just all good.
Today it was a combined effort of Junior (aka my 17 year old 6′ plus son) and myself. As well as my second in the kitchen he was my photographer for the day.
Junior and I headed down to Notaras Fish Markets at Cronulla. If you live in the Sutherland Shire it is the best place to buy your seafood from, really is worth the extra effort. The staff are so lovely and helpful and the quality of their product is second to none. So it is there that Junior and I chose the fate of two medium sized male mud crabs.
As the crab is cooked in pieces I get them to cut them up for me. As they were medium in this case they quartered our crabs for us. Then it was straight home to start turning them into lip smacking dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 mud crab - clean and quartered
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 10 cloves garlic
- 10 red chillies - fresh
- 2 Teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 egg
- 1 bunch coriander
- 6 spring onions
- 1 Cup water
- 5 Tablespoons Tomato sauce
- 3 Teaspoons fermented black beans
- 2 Teaspoons cornflour
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ Teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a jug ready for use.
- Heat oil in a wok and add garlic and chilli and stir fry until fragrant (about 1 minute), then add the mud crab. Stir fry until the shells start to turn slight red and then stir in the sauce. Stir fry for a further 2 minutes and then cover with a lid and simmer for around 6 minutes or until the shells turn completely red.
- Remove lid and stir in vinegar, add egg and stir to form shreds. Add coriander and spring onions, give it a stir and then serve immediately!!
Nutrition
My suggestion is to put it into a big serving bowl to be placed in centre of table for everyone to tuck in. All it needs to accompany it is crusty white bread (just plain old white, like a crusty cob, not sourdough etc, keep it simple).
Get messy and enjoy!!
Ellie
This recipe was amazing, thank you so much. The perfect way to cook mud crab.