Chili crab is a traditional Singaporean dish made with mud crabs boiled in a mildly spicy, slightly sweet sauce. It is commonly served in Southeast Asia and is usually not very spicy. The dish is served with whole crabs that diners must open, and the broth is often served with thick or crusty bread. Mud crabs are typically used, but other types of crabs can be substituted. The dish is often compared to black pepper crab, which has a drier, more peppery texture.
Chili crab, sometimes also spelled “chilli crab,” is a traditional Singaporean dish made with mud crabs boiled in a mildly spicy, slightly sweet sauce. Despite the reference to chili peppers in its name, the dish is usually not particularly spicy. Large, mild chile peppers, not their smaller, hotter counterparts, are traditionally used and are often balanced with sweeter flavors like tomato and fermented black beans. The result is a savory crab preparation that has a pronounced zing, but not a lot of heat.
Different cooks have different ways of preparing chili crab, but most iterations are variations on a standard recipe. This recipe is believed to have been introduced in the early 1950s at a popular restaurant in Singapore. It calls for whole mud crabs to be simmered in a thick tomato-chili sauce that is augmented with black beans, then seasoned with garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Egg and coriander are typically added for garnish.
The ingredients required for chili crab are usually flexible, especially when it comes to proportions. Cooks are usually free to create their own variations. Chili crab is commonly served in restaurants, homes, and informal market stalls in many of Southeast Asia’s large cities. While all versions are generally recognizable as chili crab, differences in taste, texture, and overall quality are often noted.
In almost every case, the dish is served with whole crabs that diners must open. The shells are often cracked during cooking to allow the flavors to penetrate, but are left untouched. Many cooks believe this is the best way to preserve the moisture in the crabmeat. It also simplifies preparation: depending on the cook, the crabs can be added to the live broth or pre-boiled. The fresher the crabs, the more flavorful and authentic the result will be.
Mud crabs are typically small green crabs native to the shallow waters off the coast of Singapore. However, these crustaceans are not always widely available outside this region. Soft-shell crabs, rock crabs, and blue swimmer crabs are common substitutions.
Larger varieties such as Dungeness crab may also be used, but are usually broken down before cooking. The idea in chili crab is to provide diners with several crabs steamed together, each worth a few bites. Large crabs are often harder to break and almost always take much longer to cook whole.
While the crabs are definitely the centerpiece of the dish no matter how it’s prepared, the broth is also quite important. Most often, chili crab is served with thick or crusty bread designed specifically to soak up excess juices. Toasted Chinese rolls are traditional, but regular French bread often works just as well.
Singaporean cuisine features prominent seafood, and chilli crab is just one of many famous crab dishes in this part of the world. Many restaurateurs, home cooks, and visitors alike compare the dish to black pepper crab, a similar preparation of whole crabs that has a drier, more peppery texture. Black pepper crabs are usually prepared in a much thinner broth and are often served on a platter rather than a bowl.
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