Chilli Crab
This is a surprisingly easy dish to cook (and eat)- no kidding. Previously, my husband and I used to spend hours peeling crabs to get the crab meat to make this dish. But ever since we found Phillips crabmeat in the grocery store, there's no turning back. I've tried a couple other canned / prepacked crabmeat but I reckon that this brand's by far the best as the texture of the crab is still firm and it's not stinky. It is not too expensive too and retails at about $8.99/pound. I served it with the Italian rustic bread that I baked. Serving it with mantou will be good too. Unfortunately I use guesstimation to cook my dish so I can't give the exact proportion of ingredients. 1 lb of crabmeat serves 6-8.
Ingredients
Cooking oil
2 shallots, chopped finely
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 thumb size ginger, skinned and cut into 2 big slices
2 spring onions, cut into longish pieces (reserve the top green parts for later, use the bottom whitish bits to toss in with ginger, garlic, and shallots)
tomato ketchup (quite a generous squirt)
tamarind (about 2 thumb-size pieces), soaked in hot water to soften and release the flavor
2 tbs rempah (or chilli paste) - this depends on how spicy you like it
Sugar (add more if you like it sweeter, less or none if you don't like it too sweet)
1 tbs cornstarch, mixed with a little water (optional)
1 egg
salt / soy sauce to taste
1 lb crabmeat
Method
In a wok or a deep skillet, heat the oil. Then add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and base of spring onions. Fry till fragrant. Next add the rempah, ketchup and stir around for a minute or so. Sieve the tamarind water into the mixture. Add more water if you like it to be more saucy. Simmer. When sauce starts bubbling, taste and add more sugar, ketchup or rempah (depending on personal preference). Add some salt/soy sauce to taste. When you think the sauce is tasty enough, add the crabmeat and mix well. Once the mixture starts to bubble, crack the egg in, add cornstarch if you prefer a thicker consistency, and mix well. Turn off stove and toss in green onions. Serve hot.