This recipe is based on the traditional way the Singaporeans love their chilli crabs; though I’ve once again added my own twist adding some coriander to give it a big punch of flavour. You know I just love flavour, and coriander is the perfect addition to finish off this crustacean dish. Though if you want tradition, you can leave out the coriander, and the lime juice.

Here we’ve used some Queensland mud crabs; a crab that’s available in Australia most year round. When choosing crabs you’ll need to pay attention to the seasons; You have to pick your crabs according to many different factors that may affect you choice: Full moon, mating seasons. Your local fishmonger can guide you to the right choice as you don’t want to buy big juicy crabs only to find there’s no meat under the shell.

This recipe serves 4 and should take about 30 minutes (depending on how clean the crabs are)

Chilli crab (Singaporean)
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Chilli crab (Singaporean)

This recipe is based on the traditional way the Singaporeans love their chilli crabs; though I’ve once again added my own twist adding some coriander to give it a big punch of flavour. You know already I just love flavour, and coriander is the perfect addition to finish off this crustacean dish. Though if you want tradition, you can leave out the coriander, and the lime juice.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Curry, Singapore
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Steve Wardle

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg Mud crab
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil
  • 6 fresh chillies
  • 3 clove garlic
  • 2 tsp fresh ginger
  • 6 spring onions
  • 1/2 cup chopped coriander
  • 1/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup chilli sauce
  • 2 tbsp palm or brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 cups water
  • Juice half lime

Instructions

Cleaning mud crabs

  1. Wash the crabs well in cold salty water, you may need to give them a good scrub with a brush if they’re pretty dirty, crabs are bottom foragers and often come from estuaries where the silt may not be the best quality, so don’t skimp on getting them clean.
  2. Remove the top shell (carapace), this is easily done by gripping the flap beneath the crab and pulling it backwards then up toward the top of the crab, a good firm grasp should see the shell come away without too much trouble.
  3. Rinse the inner of the crab under running water, whilst removing the gills and the mustard (some people actually enjoy this part). Break or cut away the sticky out bits (mandibles and eyes) around the head, not necessary, but I remove these.

Method

  1. Chop the crabs into good size pieces, I’m using 4 smallish crabs so I’ve cut mine into two. Often 1 single crab can weigh well over 1.5 kg’s, so you would want to cut a rather large crab into many more pieces.
  2. Tip: When buying crabs, see if you can get some extra nippers for the pot. These are my favourite, and I’m sure every else loves a good nipper too.

Prepare the other ingredients

  1. Finely chop the garlic, ginger and chilli, or give them a minute or two together in a blender.
  2. Wash the spring onion and cut diagonally into 4cm pieces.
  3. In a wok, heat the peanut oil until very hot. Add the crabs and fry on a high flame for about 7 minutes, turning frequently. Cover and let steam for another 3 or 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the crabs from the oil and set aside.
  5. Turn the heat to low and sauté the garlic, ginger and chilli until soft, then add the spring onions, sauté for another minute.
  6. Add the sauces, sugar, soy, and salt and pepper, lime juice, and water and bring to boil, then add the coriander.
  7. After one minute add the crabs and simmer for a couple of minutes in the sauce.
  8. This recipe has lots of flavour. Serve with rice. Enjoy!
  9. Tip: Fresh mud crabs are a favourite of east Asian cultures, especially here in Australia. As with other crab recipes, I still prefer the taste and texture of blue swimmers, you can easily substitute blue swimmers in this recipe.

Recipe Notes

Tip: When buying crabs, see if you can get some extra nippers for the pot. These are my favourite, and I’m sure every else loves a good nipper too. Tip: Fresh mud crabs are a favourite of east Asian cultures, especially here in Australia. As with other crab recipes, I still prefer the taste and texture of blue swimmers, you can easily substitute blue swimmers in this recipe.