Shell Black
Chilli Crab and Black Pepper Crab: Dining Out in Seafood Restaurants
The wildly popular CHILLI CRAB, unofficially- but widely-accepted national dish of Singapore, traces its illustrious history from a humble past. An enterprising businesswoman put a hawker stall right on the seashore some 60 years ago, and here she spent her time everyday from dusk till the wee hours of the morning cooking by the light of a kerosene lamp. And her specialty? No, it’s not the fact that she was on a beach and using obsolete kerosene lighting. What made this scenario to be recorded in the annals of contemporary history was the fact that the first Chilli Crab was made here.
The original stall is long gone, replaced by a bunch of newer stalls following in the footsteps of the original. As in the old formula, mud crabs are still commonly used and are stir-fried in a semi-thick, sweet and savoury tomato and chilli based sauce. Fifty years hence, the chilli crab is ubiquitously present in Singaporean or Malaysian hawker stall. But for those who may be put off by the ‘hot’ name – worry not for chilli crab is not a very spicy preparation.
Chilli crab gets its name from the special chilli sauce made with chilli paste, ketchup, and eggs. The shells are usually partially cracked before cooking for ease of eating later. Usually, the crabs are garnished with cilantro.
Nowadays, the dish has many incarnations – some are packed with fresh spices, some are sweet-sour with tomato, others are ribboned with beaten egg, and others carry the sting of chilli oil. Beware, each dish is to be tackled with gusto – and a nutcracker to tackle thick shells, plus a few slices of French bread or Chinese buns to help you soak up every drop of delicious sauce. Breads are commonly served with chilli crabs to mop up the sauce: steamed or fried mantou, French loaves, toasted sliced bread. A steaming howl of aromatic white rice also goes well with chilli crabs.
Another popular Singaporean way to prepare crab is the BLACK PEPPER CRAB. Instead of chilli paste, hard-shell crabs are cooked in a gravy made with black pepper. The Black Pepper Crab is liked by many locals and foreign tourists over the Chilli crab because of its drier and fragrant pepperish nature. A new trend is to mix the crab with jackfruit sauce. In spite of this though, the preparation has not made it to the nominations for Singapore’s national dish. Black pepper crab started becoming popular in the 1980s, and now most crustacean-themed restaurants offer crabs stir-fried with black peppercorns along with chilli crab.
SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS
Enjoy other seafood specialties at local restaurants. Dim sum seafood of course is readily available from morning till tea time. If that is not enough, take your pick at a spread of seafood dishes. Lobsters, crayfish and crabs typically line the menu in seafood restaurants. Also, you may be in for some authentic ambience, as some restaurants offer the ‘Tapino’ dining style.
About the Author
HUNGRY NOW FOR SINGAPOREAN FOOD? Check out these items for a mouth-watering feast:
Seafood Express, Seafood Dishes Delivery
. Also, try
Dim Sum Menu Singapore
for your seafood pig out! Bon appetit!
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