One of Singapore's iconic dishes, apart from Hainanese chicken rice, is the famous Singapore Chilli Crab. Although there are many versions of it, the one that I'm most familiar with comes with a generous amount of sweet, spicy, slightly tomatoey and garlicky sauce, with fine threads of egg through it which makes it rich and thick. Back in my childhood days, we would sometimes get takeaway chilli crab from the local Chinese restaurant and eat it at home. And then, we would pop some bread in the toaster and use the crispy toast to mop up the delicious eggy sauce.
I decided to make this rather quick and easy version using ready-picked crab meat (I used Phillips crab meat) which is available at the seafood shop. It makes a fantastic dipping sauce which goes really well with hot potato wedges. And it's so addictively good I'm sure you will love it too! Great for parties, or just as a snack or appetizer.
Chunky Chilli Crab Dip
Ingredients
Blend together finely:
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 inch galangal
3/4 inch ginger
5-6 bird's eye chillies
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4-5 tbsp ketchup
2 1/2 tbsp Lingham's chilli sauce (or substitute with sweet chilli sauce)
2-3 tsp sugar (to taste)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
Salt and pepper to taste
150g (5 oz) cooked and picked crab meat (add more if you like!)
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water
1 egg, beaten
Coriander leaves, roughly chopped, for garnish
Method
- Heat up vegetable oil in a wok/pan. Fry the blended ingredients on medium heat for 4-5 minutes until fragrant.
- Add ketchup, chilli sauce, sugar, water and chicken stock powder. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the chunks of crab meat. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cornstarch and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Gently and slowly stir in the egg until just cooked. Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot as a dip with potato wedges, hot crusty bread or toast.
Crab chilli is new to me. Where have I been? This looks incredible. I must try this soon. Great photos as well!
ReplyDeleteYou know what Fern, most of the food you posted, are all my favourites! And in fact, I have never try this Chilli Crab dip, I bet it must be delish..... saliva drooling now.
ReplyDelete@hyosun: thanks! You have to visit singapore then! You can make this sauce and use whole crabs if u like :)
ReplyDelete@mel: if u like eating chilli crab, then try just making the sauce with crab meat and eat with bread or toast! :) no messy fingers!
That crab dip is looking tasty!
ReplyDeleteWow this is a new dish to me but my husband must enjoy this - spicy and crab! Unfortunately I'm allergic to crab so I started to avoid. If not, this must be a great dip for my favorite potatoes!
ReplyDeleteI made this dip last night minus the egg and chicken stock powder. It was a huge hit. My hubby said it reminded him of home (Singapore). Thanks so much for making my hubby so happy.
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