Chinese Food Culture

(This chili crab recipe is from my archive but I have just made it these days and updated with new photos, shot with Canon T1i. The new Canon 5D Mark II is reserved for my cookbook.)

My mother was a fantastic cook. Coming from a little fishing village in the state of Kedah, she produced killer dishes with seafood, specially chili crab. With this post, I give my utmost tribute and applause to my late mother for her cooking skills and this quite special family Recipe.

Growing up, I would usually 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 should 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 constantly brimming with excitement at the thought of devouring this dish…(get chili crab recipe after the jump)

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 within 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 applied ał-lb Dungeness crab. In case you can’t locate green mud crab or Dungeness crab in your area, you’ll be able to often use one more crab—stone crab or blue crab. If you are in New York City, call yourself lucky as it is possible to just hop straight to Fatty Crab from 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 produced with a tomato-based sauce; this is adapted from my family’s chili crab recipe.