Skip to main content

Sweet and Sour Chili Crabs

 


Have you ever eat mud crabs with sweet and sour sauce? Indeed, that was my mom's favorite dish. 

I still remember the childhood days when we were still renting a house and my mother used to make sweet and sour crabs. On that day, there was a blackout. Additionally, it was swelteringly hot and humid. We were dining on those mouthwatering sweet and sour mud crabs outside the house by twilight. That was the most delectable and memorable crab dish I have ever had. Even though my mom was still making the same sweet and sour crab after we moved into a new home, the dish no longer tasted the same as it had that day. Maybe that was from my early memories!


But today, I'm going to make some changes to this recipe -  sweet and sour chilli crabs. Instead of using chilled crab, it is advised to use fresh crab. Because the meat will start to shrink and taste significantly worse if the crab is not freshly cooked and kept in the refrigerator for more than a day!


I enjoy spicy food, but this sauce also contains tomato sauce, soybean paste, and the most vital component—sambal—in addition to chilli. The ingredients for sambal paste or chili paste , a chilli sauce or paste, belacan, or shrimp paste, as well as fresh and dried chilies. You will see that the  gravy will be thickened with the chili paste, and a big puddle of sauce will cover every crab.

You can either purchase pre-made sambal or make your own using the recipe provided below. Of course, not everyone like the sambal's aroma or flavour. It can be left out. The crabs are still tasty without the spicy flavour.

I purchased 6 female and 4 male mud crabs for this dish. Usually, female crabs are more expensive than male crabs when served in restaurants. This is a result of the stomach's yellow crab roe, which is the finest part of crabs to eat.

You still need utensils, such as chopsticks, tiny forks, or even your fingers, to suck every bit of succulent even if the crabs have already been cut in half and the shells pre-smashed.

Are you starting to get hungry for these delicious chilli crabs? To begin, let's gather all the necessary supplies and detailed information.



INGREDIENTS (sambal paste)

3 dried chili (add more as your desires)

2 fresh red chillies

3 shallots

6 cloves garlic

5 inch  ginger

1 tbsp dried shrimps

10g of belacan/ shrimp paste

½ cup water


 

METHOD

1. Soak the dried chili in hot water until soft. Remove the seeds and cut the dried chili into small chunks.

2. Soak the dried shrimps until soft and drain. Slice the ginger. Cut the shallots and garlic into small chunks. 

3. Remove the seeds of the fresh chilies and cut into chunks. Toast the belacan (shrimp paste) in a skillet at low heat until fragrant. 

4. Combine all the sambal ingredients in a food processor, blend with little water till fine paste.


INGREDIENTS (Chilli crabs)

10 medium size of mud crabs

½ cup  tomato sauce

½ cup chili sauce

½ cup THAI sweet chilli sauce

2 tbsp soya bean paste (taucu)

1 cup water

Salt and sugar to taste

Some fresh cilantros for granishing

 


METHODS

1. Take the crab's carapace off. Wash, scrub and remove the top shell and the lungs. The crabs were cut in half. Save the female top shell with the yellow crab roe inside. Keep chilled until you are ready to use.

2. Combine the tomato sauce, chili sauce, THAI sweet chili sauce, and soya bean paste in a small bowl, mix well.

2. In a wok, heat the oil to a medium-high temperature. Add in the sambal paste (chili paste) and  cooked until aromatic. Cook and stir continuously until the colour darkens. Add in the sauce ingredients  from step 2. 

4. Add in the crabs and toss it well until all the crabs are well coated with the sauce. Pour in one cup of water and the top shell, which contains yellow crab roe. Cover the pot, bring it to a boil and turn to  lower heat to keep it simmering for about 10 minutes, or until the crab is brilliant red and thoroughly cooked.

5. Remove the top shell. Give it a good stir and make sure all the crabs are well coated with sauce. Remove the crabs to a serving plate. Place the top shell on top of the crabs pieces and garnish with chopped cilantro. ENJOY!!













Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ginkgo Bean Curd and Barley Sugar dessert (白果腐竹薏米糖水)

Do you miss this delicacy of Ginkgo Bean Curd and Barley Sugar dessert? When did you most recently enjoy or make it? Ginkgo, commonly known as ginkgo. It is very popular when used to cook bean curd sheets. I went to a dessert house two days ago. The waitress was serving this dessert to a young lady who was sitting next to me. I overheard that lady comment about that dessert is different from other dessert houses. So, I give it a go. I am not sure how it was different from other dessert houses. But it is different from what I had before. It is creamy, smooth, and rich in flavour. So, I am going to copycat this, and my family loves it so much. Especially youngsters who do not like any small chunks to chew on with liquid dessert. This dessert can be cooked on the stove or pressure cooker. There's a catch, though: Yuba sheets or bean curd sheet, also known as Fu Chuk, come in a variety of forms.   If you opt for making this dessert over a stove, need to choose the kind that disso...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dong Po Rou （东坡肉）

Dong Po Rou （东坡肉） – wine braised pork belly. It’s rich and savoury, tender that melts into your mouth. Traditionally, the pork belly is pan-fried before being braised or stewed for one to one and a half hours on low heat. Some of the recipes even call for steaming for an additional half an hour after stewing. It is very time-consuming. But as you are aware, I enjoy making recipes simpler without compromising the taste. You, too, I'm sure. Therefore, I skipped the pan-frying step and proceeded directly to braising the pork after blanching it, and then continued to cook with a pressure cooker. Don't worry; the dish's flavour remains unaffected. I'm hoping this simplified method may come in handy for your regular cooking. Trim off the edges of the pork and cut it into 3x3 cubes. Tie cooking twine around each cube. This will assist the cubes in keeping their form while cooking. If the pork that you bought is at the mid portion of the belly is ideal, there is a nice bala...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ondeh-Ondeh in 3 flavour （椰丝球）

Today made a popular dessert in Malaysia, “Ondeh Ondeh”, a type of Nyonya recipe. It is also called “Buah Melaka” because it looks like the fruit of the Malacca tree. The procedure of making is easy. The flavoured glutinous rice balls have grated fresh coconut on the outside and melting Gula Melaka, or palm sugar, inside. The white, milky coconut shreds and little balls of various colours appear fresh and natural. and has a charming appearance. The glutinous rice balls, soft glutinous and chewy are determined by the amount of water and cooking time. The softer the rice balls, the more water and more time it boiled. We like our coconut shreds to be moist and crisp, the melted Gula Melaka to be rich and flavorful, and the texture to be somewhat mushy and sticky. It seems like the nostalgic flavour of my childhood is returning. In addition to the traditional pandan flavour, I have included instructions for making it with sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Of all the flavours of "ondeh...
Post a Comment
Read more