Chili Crab

• Pour oil in a pan to sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger.
• Add the crabs with 1 cup of water and cook all the ingredients together. Cook till the crabs turn red in color.
• Combine with the sweet chili sauce, tomato sauce, and fish sauce. Make sure the crabs get coated with all the above sauces.
• Add water to the cornstarch and mix well. Pour the cornstarch-water mixture onto the crabs and cook until the sauce becomes thick.
• Finally, beat the eggs and add them into the mixture. Stir it well in order to prevent lumps.
• Cook for another 2-3 min and your dish is ready to serve.

Trivia

People often mistake the red color of the dish for red chili powder assuming the dish to be spicy, but in reality, the red color comes from the sweet, savory, and spicy tomato sauce that serves as one of the main ingredients in the dish.

The chili crab was originated in 1956 by Mdm Cher Yam Tian when he was bored having the same old Crab every day and asked his wife to add some chili and tomato sauce to the fried crabs. Since then it has become Singapore’s cultural symbol. If you are a Singaporean or you plan to visit the country, you would be surprised to see the madness for chili crab among Singaporeans!  They believe chili crab to be one of their greatest food inventions and they are typically served with sugary and juicy mud crabs.