Crab Time! ( Chilli Crab )

I've been wanting to try my hands cooking crab for the longest time! Yet I somehow didn't get the chance to do it, despite various times 'bumping' into crabs at the wet market :-P I guess the idea of cooking it seemed like such a hassle, especially cleaning up the crab part :-P Those shells look so intimidating to me :-P *excuses!*

When a family friend ( bless him! ) presented me with loads of crabs, I was obviously ecstatic :-P Imagine being given a bagful of crabs! Now obviously I have no excuses not to cook it, rite? :-P Should see the look of glee on my face when I received the crabs! What joy!

One of the dish I've been dying to try was Chilli Crab...Owhhhhhh! How I love this dish! Chilli Crab dipped with bread or steamed/fried mantou ( a Chinese bun/bread ) is just heavenly to me :-)

Okay, enough ramblings! To cut the story short, a few days ago, I donned my apron & cooked Chilli Crab. So excited was I about it as hubby dearie gave it a thumbs up that I actually shared the final outcome on my Facebook page :-P Happy to say that some shared my passion for crab dishes & requested for the recipe...To my dear friends & followers, I'm more than happy to oblige :-)

My Version Of Chilli Crab :-)

CHILLI CRAB
Printable Recipe

THE INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons oil
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 large onions
• 2cm ginger
• 6 red chillies, deseeded - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 6 bird's eye chillies ( cili padi ) - add more if you like your dish hot & spicy
• 10 tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil ( optional )
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 1 teaspoon salt - lessen or add more according to your taste
• 500ml chicken stock - to cheat, just mix 500ml water with a cube of chicken stock ;-)
• 2 medium crabs, washed & cut into chunks - see bottom note on how to clean the crab ;-)

Cornflour Mixture ( Mixed Well )
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons water

COOKING INSTRUCTION

• Blend garlic & put aside.
• Blend onions, ginger, red chillies & bird's eye chillies.
• Heat oil in a wok over a medium fire. Sauté garlic till fragrant. Add the rest of the blended items & stir fry for 3 minutes or until fragrant.
• Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the cornflour mixture.
• Cover wok & cook crab for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally ( Note : Do not overcook the crab as this will spoil the texture of the crab meat ).
• Stir in the cornflour mixture.
• Turn off the fire when the sauce thickens.
• Serve with bread, mantou or rice.

To those not familiar with Mantou ( Chinese Bun / Bread ), here's how it looks like...Ready made Mantou can also be purchased at any Supermarket. Check it out at the Frozen Section :-)

Steamed Mantou

( Photo Taken From The Wide World Of Web )

HOW TO PREPARE/CLEAN THE CRAB

• Prise off the top shell.
• Remove the guts & grills, then rinse under running water.
• Chop the crab into 4 pieces.
• For faster cooking & easy consumption, crack the crab's claws - I usually crack it gently with my pestle ;-)
• You might want to check this link for graphic details on cleaning crab ;-)

Happy crabbing all! :-)