Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Singapore-Style (Inspired) Chili Crab

My husband and I have been craving crabs for quite some time. And even though Dungeness crabs are still in season they're pretty expensive. But tonight, the husband felt extravagant and bit the bullet. We bought a three-pound worth two pieces of dungeness crab for dinner. I cannot remember what the authentic chili crab tasted like from one of our travels to Singapore 5 or 6 years ago. I stumbled upon this recipe at foodnetwork.com  from Tyler Florence and tweaked it a little bit to whatever ingredients that was available in my kitchen. It was surprisingly good although I cannot really say it's authentic. But we loved how the flavor came together. Sweet-spicy and a little sour.

Ingredients:

2 Dungeness crab, cleaned and cracked (the Asian supermarket cleaned it for us and hard shell removed)
1/4 Cup banana ketchup (what we had in the pantry)
2 Tablespoons chili-garlic paste (I used the bottled Lee Kum Kee)
2 Tablespoons low sodium stiry fry vegetarian sauce (also from Lee Kum Kee)
1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 Tablespoon tamarind soup powder dissolved in 1/4 cup of water ( i didn't have tamarind paste)
3 Tablespoon sesame oil
4 Green onion stalks, chopped (separate the white and green parts)
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
4 Cloves garlic, minced
1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 Tablespoons cilantro leaves  and more for garnish

Cooking instructions:

  1. Steam the crabs for 15-20 minutes or until color turns bright orange. Set aside.
  2. On a bowl, mix together the ketchup, chili-garlic paste, soy sauce, stir fry sauce, and tamarind soup. Set aside
  3. On a large wok, pour the sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the white parts of the scallion,ginger, garlic, half of the jalapeno, and chopped cilantro. Saute for a minute of two or until fragrant.
  4. Add the steamed crabs and stir fry until covered with all the spices. Pour in the sauce and toss until the crabs are well coated. Cover for 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Keep stirring until the crab has well absorbed the sauce. Turn off heat.
  5. Garnish with the remaining jalapeno peppers and cilantro. Serve with steaming rice. Enjoy! 

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