Singapore-style wokked crab
Item 1 of 1
- medium
- 4
- 1 hour 30 minutes
Including a recipe for smoked chilli sambal and tomato relish, this Singapore crab recipe will leave you with plenty of goodies to use in future dishes. Chef Anna Hansen is a fan of Singaporean food, in her words:
'This recipe has been evolving since The Modern Pantry opened. Every time I cook it, the wonderful aromas transport me back to happy memories of eating glorious Singaporean food, and although I am certain it is far from authentic it seems to have the same impact on many of our diners. At the restaurant, we serve it with coconut rice and pickled lotus root. Be sure to supply plenty of bibs and fingerbowls when serving!'
First published in 2015
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Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Smoked chilli sambal
- 250g of cherry tomatoes, ripe
- 250g of red pepper, sliced
- 250g of onion, sliced
- 80g of fresh ginger, cut into fine strips
- 80g of garlic, sliced
- 25g of dried shrimp, ground finely in a spice grinder
- 1 tsp chilli flakes, chipotle, or 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 125g of tamarind paste
- 40ml of nam pla fish sauce
- rapeseed oil, for deep frying
Tomato relish
- 1 tbsp of cumin seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan then ground
- 3 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 20g of turmeric, fresh, finely grated
- 80g of ginger, finely chopped
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 800g of tinned chopped tomatoes
- 150ml of white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
- 40g of palm sugar, or demerara if you can't get hold of it
- 40ml of nam pla fish sauce
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Frying paste
- 50g of fresh ginger
- 50g of garlic
- 100g of shallots
- 6 red chillies
- 3 tsp Szechuan pepper, whole, lightly toasted in a dry pan
- 50ml of vegetable oil, plus extra to fry the paste
Sauce
- 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 75ml of lime juice
- 75ml of nam pla fish sauce
- 80g of light palm sugar, or demerara sugar
To finish the sauce
- 400ml of light fish stock, or vegetable stock
To serve
- 2 handfuls of Thai basil, leaves only
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced into rounds
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced into rounds
- 1/2 bunch of coriander, leaves only
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Food processor
Method
1
Before making the dish, you will need to make the chilli sambal and tomato relish. To make the sambal, preheat a deep-fryer (of large, deep pan) to 180°C
- rapeseed oil, for deep frying
2
In separate batches, deep-fry the tomatoes, peppers and onions until deeply golden, almost to the point of being burnt. After each ingredient is ready, drain on kitchen paper before adding to a large mixing bowl. Once cooked, deep-fry the garlic and ginger separately until lightly golden, drain, then add to the large bowl
- 250g of red pepper, sliced
- 250g of cherry tomatoes, ripe
- 250g of onion, sliced
- 80g of fresh ginger, cut into fine strips
- 80g of garlic, sliced
3
Add a spoonful of the cooking oil to a pan and fry off the dried shrimps until aromatic. Add to the bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. In batches, add the sambal mix to a blender and blitz until almost smooth, then empty into a clean bowl. Once all of the mix has been processed, stir well until well-combined and place in an airtight container. Keep in the fridge until required (it will keep for several months in the fridge)
- 25g of dried shrimp, ground finely in a spice grinder
- 1 tsp chilli flakes, chipotle, or 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 125g of tamarind paste
- 40ml of nam pla fish sauce
4
For the tomato relish, add the oil to a heavy-based pan and place over a medium heat. Once hot, add the spices, ginger and chillies and fry until the spices are aromatic and begin to crackle in the pan. Stir in the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil and skim away any frothy scum that rises to the surface
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp of cumin seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan then ground
- 3 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 80g of ginger, finely chopped
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 20g of turmeric, fresh, finely grated
- 800g of tinned chopped tomatoes
- 150ml of white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
- 40g of palm sugar, or demerara if you can't get hold of it
- 40ml of nam pla fish sauce
5
Turn the heat down and cook on a gentle simmer for approximately 40 minutes, until thickened and glossy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before storing in sterilised jars. Alternatively, keep the relish in an airtight container in the fridge
6
Place the crabs in the freezer for 2 hours before cooking - this will render them insensate
- 2 crabs, live, each weighing 700-800g
7
Fill a very large pan big enough to hold both crabs with room to spare 3/4 full with water, and add 125g of sea salt per 5 litres of water. If you don't have a pan big enough, cook one crab at a time
8
Bring the water to a rolling boil, add the crabs and return to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for a further 20 minutes
9
Once cooked, pour the crabs and water into a clean sink to drain, then refresh with cold tap water to halt the cooking process and clean the crabs
10
When the crabs have cooled completely, delicately twist off the claws and very gently crack them - you need to be careful when doing this as too forceful a breakage will mean more bits of shell in your final dish
11
Place the crab on its back and remove the pointy flap in the middle of the belly. Grasp the body of the crab with one hand, and use the other hand to pull away the head. Discard the 'dead man's fingers' and stomach sac, which is located behind the mouth. Keeping the legs attached, cut the body of the crab into quarters. Reserve the heads until later
12
To make the frying paste, simply place all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste
- 50g of fresh ginger
- 50g of garlic
- 100g of shallots
- 6 red chillies
- 3 tsp Szechuan pepper, whole, lightly toasted in a dry pan
- 50ml of vegetable oil, plus extra to fry the paste
13
For the sauce, add 2 tbsp of the smoked chilli sambal, 2 tbsp of tomato relish and the remaining sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside
- 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 75ml of lime juice
- 75ml of nam pla fish sauce
- 80g of light palm sugar, or demerara sugar
14
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
15
Add the reserved head and shells of the crab to the oven. Meanwhile, add a dash of oil to a large wok and stir in the frying paste, cooking out for a couple of minutes. Stir in the crab pieces, in 2 batches if you wok isn't very big, and cook through for 5 minutes, tossing the crab to coat evenly in the paste
16
Stir in the sauce and the light fish stock to finish, then cook out until the sauce is slightly reduced. To serve, divide the crab between 2 sharing bowls, placing the head shells on top to decorate. Sprinkle over the Thai basil, chilli, spring onion and coriander, and serve immediately
- 400ml of light fish stock, or vegetable stock
- 2 handfuls of Thai basil, leaves only
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced into rounds
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced into rounds
- 1/2 bunch of coriander, leaves only
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