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My mother was a fantastic cook. Coming from a small fishing village in the state of Kedah, she made killer dishes with seafood, especially chili crab.
With this post, I give my utmost tribute and applause to my late mother for her cooking skills and this very special family recipe.
Growing up, I would always look forward to visiting my mother’s hometown; as a matter of fact, I would ask my parents to take me there.
My intentions were not completely pure, I must confess; other than being able to play on the beach and dig siput (a type of clams), my bigger motivation was that she would bring back the freshest, meatiest, and juiciest catch of green mud crabs from my uncle who was a fisherman.
I was always brimming with excitement at the thought of devouring this dish.
Eating home-cooked chili crab was a celebration in my family—the preparation (imagine “capturing” those feisty crabs that “escaped” the nets and roamed freely in the kitchen!), the cooking, and of course, the eating. It was sheer fun; lots of fun.
While this dish is traditionally prepared with green mud crab in Malaysia, I used a 2-lb Dungeness crab.
If you can’t find green mud crab or Dungeness crab in your area, you can always use another crab—stone crab or blue crab. If you are in New York City, call yourself lucky as you can just hop straight to Fatty Crab in the meat packing district and order this dish. Chef Zak Pelaccio’s serves a Malaysian-style chili crab at his restaurant.
Feast your eyes now with my pictures, but I hope you get a chance to try this chili crab recipe. Please take note that this chili crab recipe is not Singaporean-style chili crab which is made with a tomato-based sauce; this is adapted from my family’s chili crab recipe.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 131 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Mom’s Chili Crab
Ingredients
- 1 Dungeness crab (about 2 lb. size (1 kg))
- 1 coriander sprig (chopped for garnishing only)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons tamarind juice
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1/4 cup water
Spice Paste:
- 8 dried red chilies (soaked in hot water and deseeded)
- 1 tablespoon taucheo (soy bean paste/sauce)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch (2.5cm) fresh ginger
Tamarind Juice:
- 5 seeds of tamarind
- water
Instructions
- Clean the crab and chop it into pieces. Save the green and juicy stuff inside the shell and set aside.
- Pound the spice paste with a mortar and pestle or grind them using a food processor. Make sure that the spice paste is finely blended or pounded.
- Soak the tamarind seeds in some warm water for 15 minutes. Extract the juice and discard the seeds.
- Heat up your wok and add cooking oil.
- Stir fry the spice paste until fragant and spicy.
- Add the crab and 1/4 cup of water and do a quick stir. Cover the wok with its cover for 3 minutes.
- Add the green and juicy stuff from the shell and stir well.
- Add in sugar, tamarind juice, a little salt to taste and continue stirring for about 2 minutes or until all crab pieces turned red.
- Dish up, garnish with chopped scallions and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.