Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Singapore Chilli Crab
新加坡辣椒蟹
Recipe overview
Use same-day raw crab pieces cleaned by the fishmonger and kept chilled, cooked in sweet-tart chilli and egg sauce. Crack claws before cooking and beware shell fragments when eating.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 900 g Cleaned raw crab pieces, shell-on weight
- 1 Egg
- 60 g Shallots
- 20 g Garlic
- 15 g Ginger
- 30 g Deseeded red chilli
Sauce seasoning
- 100 g Tomato ketchup
- 50 g Sweet chilli sauce
- 250 ml Water
- 15 ml Rice vinegar
- 10 g Sugar
- 10 ml Light soy sauce
Cooking oil
- 20 ml Oil
Slurry
- 8 g Cornflour
- 20 ml Water
02
Tools
- Lidded wok
- Knife, board and crab cracker
- Bowls and spatula
- Food thermometer
03
Steps
Step 1
Inspect crab
Check cleaned crab has no gills, innards or loose shell fragments; keep chilled until cooking preparations.
Step 2
Crack claws
Crack thick claws lightly without crushing, pat pieces dry and remove loose shell.
Step 3
Chop aromatics
Finely chop shallots, garlic, ginger and deseeded chilli into one bowl.
Step 4
Mix sauce
Mix ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, 250 ml water, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce.
Step 5
Prepare egg and slurry
Beat the egg in one bowl; mix cornflour with 20 ml water in another, keeping them separate.
Step 6
Fry aromatics
Heat oil over medium heat and fry chopped aromatics for 2 minutes until softened; do not burn garlic.
Step 7
Toss crab
Add crab and toss for 1 minute so shells contact the hot wok, supporting pieces with the spatula.
Step 8
Cover and simmer
Pour in sauce and bring to a boil; cover and cook over medium heat 8–10 minutes, turning crab once.
Step 9
Check crab meat
Check thickest claw meat reaches at least 63°C and is white and opaque; red shell alone is insufficient, so cook longer if needed.
Step 10
Thicken sauce
Restir slurry and pour in while stirring the sauce; simmer 30–60 seconds until it coats shells.
Step 11
Add egg ribbons
Drizzle egg into gently bubbling sauce, wait 5 seconds then fold gently; cook for 1 minute until fully set.
Step 12
Serve carefully
Transfer with sauce to a platter; provide a crab cracker and shell bowl, warning of shell fragments and hot sauce.
Common mistakes
- Wet crab splashes in oil; pat dry.
- Crushing claws creates fragments; crack only a seam.
- A red shell does not prove doneness; check thick claw meat.
- Vigorous stirring clouds the egg sauce; pause then fold gently until set.
Tips
Cleaned, same-day chilled crab pieces simplify home preparation. The 900 g includes shell, not just meat. Thicken lightly because egg adds body; unusually large claws need extra cooking time guided by temperature.
