[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":436},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:singapore-chilli-crab":3,"recipe:country:singapore":221},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":43,"serveWith":53,"storage":55,"faq":56,"equipment":72,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":78,"cookMinutes":79,"difficulty":80,"course":81,"diet":83,"mainIngredients":85,"ingredients":90,"instructions":168,"nutrition":201,"images":208,"keywords":212,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-chilli-crab","Singapore Chilli Crab (Crab in Sweet Chili Tomato Gravy)","辣椒螃蟹","CHILL-ee crab","singapore","East Coast","🦀","Cracked mud crab wok-tossed in a thick tomato and chile gravy, thickened with cornstarch and ribboned with beaten egg, then mopped up with deep-fried mantou buns.","Chilli crab is a whole crab, cracked open and cooked in a gravy of tomato, chile, garlic and ginger that is thickened until it clings, sweetened enough to be moreish, soured with vinegar and finished by trailing beaten egg through the pan so it sets in soft ribbons. Despite the name it is not a hot dish — the chile is there for fragrance and a low background burn, and the sweet-savoury tomato is the dominant note, closer to a sauce you would drink than a curry. The crab supplies sweetness and a lot of juices that leak into the gravy as it cooks. Everyone agrees the sauce is the real dish; the crab is partly a delivery mechanism, and the fried mantou buns served alongside exist purely to get the last of it off the plate.","Chilli crab is a young dish with a fairly well-documented origin. The commonly told account credits Cher Yam Tian, who in the mid-1950s sold crab from a pushcart with her husband and, tired of steaming them, fried them in bottled tomato sauce with chile. It was cheap, sweet and instantly popular. The version Singapore eats today was refined later in restaurant kitchens — notably by chefs who added sambal, shrimp paste, stock and the beaten-egg finish that gives the gravy its body and its distinctive cloudy ribbons. In one generation it went from pushcart improvisation to the dish tourists book flights around.\n\nThe crab of choice is the Sri Lankan mud crab, sold live from tanks and prized for heavy claws and sweet flesh. Ordering it is a small performance: you pick the crab, it is weighed in front of you, and it comes back on a platter in a slick of orange gravy with a nutcracker, a metal pick and a bib. Nobody eats this quietly or cleanly. It is a shared, hands-in, elbows-out dish, eaten in noisy seafood restaurants along the East Coast and at Punggol, usually with a couple of other dishes and a lot of beer.\n\nIts sibling is black pepper crab, the drier, sharper, more aggressively seasoned answer, and Singaporeans divide fairly evenly between the two camps. Both are claimed by Malaysia as well, which shares the coastline, the crab and much of the cooking tradition, and the argument runs about as hot as the one over chicken rice. What is not in dispute is that chilli crab as it now exists — with that particular sweet-sour-savoury gravy and the egg — is a Singapore invention rather than an inherited regional dish, which makes it one of the few genuinely modern national dishes anywhere in the region.",[15,16,17,18],"The gravy is built from fresh chile paste plus tomato rather than ketchup alone, so it tastes of chiles instead of just sugar.","Egg goes in off the boil and is left alone for a moment — the trick that gives ribbons rather than a scrambled cloudy mess.","Includes the fried mantou, which is not an optional garnish but half the reason the dish exists.","Written for a live or fresh whole crab, with honest timing and a workable route if you can only get frozen.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Crack the claws before they go in the pan, not on the plate. A cracked claw lets gravy inside the shell, which is where the flavour ends up.","Use the biggest pan you own. Crab pieces need contact with the sauce, and a crowded wok steams the crab pale instead of glazing it.","Taste the gravy before the crab goes in and correct then — once the crab is cooking, the juices it releases will shift the balance again.","Add the cornstarch slurry gradually. The gravy should coat a spoon and cling to shell; too much starch turns it gluey and dull.","Pour the egg in a thin stream over the surface, count to ten, then fold once. Stirring straight away gives you soup with scrambled egg in it.","Deep-fry the mantou just before serving. They go from crisp and hollow to greasy and heavy within about fifteen minutes.",[27,31,35,39],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Live mud crab","Frozen whole crab or 800 g of crab claws and legs","Thaw completely and pat dry, then reduce the covered cooking time to 5 minutes since the flesh is already cooked or partly cooked. The gravy carries the dish, so this is a legitimate compromise rather than a failure.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Fresh red chiles and sambal","3 tbsp of a decent chili-garlic sauce plus 1 tsp chili flakes","Less fragrant, but workable. Cut the sugar slightly since bottled sauces are usually sweetened already.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Shrimp paste (belacan)","1 tbsp fish sauce, or 2 mashed anchovy fillets","You lose the toasted funk that makes the gravy taste Singaporean rather than generically sweet-and-sour, but the savoury depth is preserved.",{"original":40,"swap":41,"note":42},"Mantou buns","Thick white bread, toasted, or plain steamed bao","The job is soaking up gravy. Anything soft, plain and slightly sweet does it — baguette is too crusty and fights the sauce.",[44,47,50],{"name":45,"description":46},"Black pepper crab","The other half of the Singapore crab canon: no tomato, no egg, just a lot of coarsely cracked black pepper, butter, garlic and dark soy fried into a dry, sharp glaze that coats the shell.",{"name":48,"description":49},"Salted egg yolk crab","A newer restaurant favourite where the crab is tossed in a rich sauce of mashed salted duck egg yolk, butter and curry leaves — grainy, buttery and much less sweet.",{"name":51,"description":52},"Chilli prawns","The same gravy with large shell-on prawns instead of crab. Far less work, cooks in four minutes, and a fair way to test the sauce before you commit to a whole crab.",[54],"Deep-fried mantou buns, steamed white rice for the leftover gravy, and a plate of stir-fried kangkong with sambal to cut the richness.","Best eaten the hour it is made — crab flesh turns fibrous on reheating and the egg ribbons break down. Leftover gravy, however, is genuinely worth keeping: strain out the shell, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and use it over noodles, fried rice or prawns. Reheat the gravy gently, adding a splash of stock to loosen it, and do not let it boil hard or the starch thins out. Do not freeze the finished dish. Picked crab meat can be refrigerated for a day and folded into fried rice cold.",[57,60,63,66,69],{"question":58,"answer":59},"Is chilli crab actually spicy?","Not particularly. The gravy is dominated by sweet tomato and savoury depth, with the chile providing aroma and a mild warmth that builds slowly. Most restaurant versions sit somewhere below a medium curry. If you want real heat you have to add bird's eye chiles or extra sambal deliberately, which many Singaporeans do at the table.",{"question":61,"answer":62},"How do I prepare a live crab humanely?","Put the crab in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes first, which sedates it into torpor. Then flip it on its back and drive a heavy knife point firmly into the small notch on the underside of the shell, which kills it instantly. Only after that should you remove the top shell and gills and cut it into pieces. Boiling a live crab is both cruel and bad for texture.",{"question":64,"answer":65},"Why did my gravy end up watery?","Crab releases a surprising amount of liquid as it cooks, so a sauce that looked right before the crab went in will be thin afterwards. Fix it by lifting out the crab once cooked, reducing the gravy hard for a couple of minutes, then adding a little more cornstarch slurry and returning the crab to coat. Add the egg only after the gravy is at its final consistency.",{"question":67,"answer":68},"Can I make this without a wok?","Yes. A wide, deep sauté pan or a shallow Dutch oven with a lid works well, and for a large crab it is often easier because the pieces sit in one layer. What matters is width and a lid — the crab needs to sit in contact with the gravy and steam through in its shell.",{"question":70,"answer":71},"What is mantou and can I skip it?","Mantou are plain Chinese steamed wheat buns, sold frozen at most Asian supermarkets and deep-fried until golden for this dish. You can skip them and serve rice instead, but the crisp-outside, cotton-soft-inside bun dragged through the gravy is a large part of what people mean when they talk about chilli crab.",[73,74,75,76],"Large wok or wide deep sauté pan with a lid","Heavy cleaver and a crab or nut cracker","Small saucepan or fryer for the mantou","Blender or mortar for the chile paste",4,30,25,"medium",[82],"main",[84],"dairy-free",[86,87,88,89],"crab","tomato","eggs","garlic",[91,96,101,106,110,112,117,119,123,126,129,132,134,139,142,144,148,151,153,157,162,165],{"ref":86,"qty":92,"unit":93,"name":94,"group":95},1.4,"kg","live mud crab (or two smaller crabs)","For the crab",{"ref":97,"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":100,"group":95},"cornstarch",2,"tbsp","cornstarch, for dusting the cut crab",{"qty":102,"unit":103,"name":104,"group":105},8,"piece","fresh long red chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped","For the chile paste",{"qty":107,"unit":103,"name":108,"optional":109,"group":105},3,"bird's eye chiles",true,{"ref":89,"qty":102,"unit":111,"name":89,"group":105},"clove",{"ref":113,"qty":114,"unit":115,"name":116,"group":105},"ginger",40,"g","ginger, peeled",{"qty":77,"unit":103,"name":118,"group":105},"shallots, peeled",{"ref":120,"qty":98,"unit":121,"name":122,"group":105},"shrimp-paste","tsp","belacan (toasted shrimp paste)",{"qty":77,"unit":99,"name":124,"group":125},"neutral oil","For the gravy",{"ref":127,"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":128,"group":125},"tomato-paste","tomato paste",{"qty":130,"unit":99,"name":131,"group":125},6,"tomato ketchup",{"ref":87,"qty":98,"unit":103,"name":133,"group":125},"ripe tomatoes, chopped",{"ref":135,"qty":136,"unit":137,"name":138,"group":125},"stock",350,"ml","chicken or prawn stock",{"ref":140,"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":141,"group":125},"rice-vinegar","rice vinegar",{"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":143,"group":125},"sugar, preferably palm sugar",{"ref":145,"qty":146,"unit":99,"name":147,"group":125},"soy-sauce",1,"light soy sauce",{"ref":97,"qty":149,"unit":99,"name":150,"group":125},1.5,"cornstarch slaked in 4 tbsp cold water",{"ref":88,"qty":98,"unit":103,"name":152,"group":125},"eggs, lightly beaten",{"ref":154,"qty":107,"unit":103,"name":155,"group":156},"scallions","scallions, cut into 3 cm lengths","To finish",{"ref":158,"qty":159,"unit":160,"name":161,"group":156},"cilantro",0.5,"cup","cilantro leaves",{"qty":102,"unit":103,"name":163,"group":164},"mantou buns, thawed if frozen","To serve",{"qty":166,"unit":137,"name":167,"group":164},500,"neutral oil, for frying the mantou",[169,173,177,180,185,189,193,197],{"title":170,"text":171,"tip":172},"Prepare the crab","Chill the crab in the freezer for 20 minutes to sedate it, then dispatch it with a firm knife thrust into the notch on its underside. Pull off the top shell, scrape out the gills and stomach sac, and cut the body into four or six pieces, each with a leg attached. Crack the claws with the back of a cleaver so the gravy can get inside.","Keep any orange roe from inside the shell and stir it into the gravy later — it adds real depth.",{"title":174,"text":175,"timerSeconds":176},"Dust and sear","Toss the crab pieces in the cornstarch until lightly coated, shaking off the excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok over high heat and sear the crab for about 2 minutes per side, just until the shell flushes bright orange-red. Lift it out onto a plate.",240,{"title":178,"text":179},"Make the chile paste","Blend the red chiles, bird's eye chiles, garlic, ginger, shallots and belacan to a coarse, slightly grainy paste — add a splash of water if the blender stalls. It should look like wet brick-coloured sand rather than a smooth purée.",{"title":181,"text":182,"timerSeconds":183,"tip":184},"Fry the paste","Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok over medium heat and fry the paste for 6–8 minutes, stirring often. It is ready when it darkens from bright red to a deeper rust, smells toasty and sweet rather than raw, and oil begins to separate out at the edges.",420,"Open a window. Frying chile paste will make everyone in the room cough for about a minute — that is normal and it passes.",{"title":186,"text":187,"timerSeconds":188},"Build the gravy","Stir in the tomato paste and ketchup and cook for a minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, stock, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until the tomatoes collapse. Taste now: it should be sweet, then tangy, then savoury, with the chile arriving last.",300,{"title":190,"text":191,"timerSeconds":192},"Cook the crab in the sauce","Return the crab and any resting juices to the wok, turn the pieces to coat, cover and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, turning once halfway. The flesh is done when it has turned opaque white and pulls cleanly away from the shell at the joint.",480,{"title":194,"text":195,"tip":196},"Thicken and ribbon the egg","Stir the slaked cornstarch through the bubbling gravy and cook for a minute until it thickens enough to cling to the shell. Turn the heat to low, pour the beaten egg over the surface in a thin stream, wait ten seconds without touching it, then fold once gently so it sets in soft ribbons rather than dissolving.","If the gravy is at a rolling boil when the egg goes in, it will disperse into cloudy shreds. Take the heat right down first.",{"title":198,"text":199,"timerSeconds":200},"Fry the mantou and serve","Heat the frying oil to 175°C and fry the mantou in batches for about 90 seconds, turning, until deep gold and hollow-sounding when tapped. Drain on paper. Scatter the scallions and cilantro over the crab and bring the whole pan to the table with the buns, a cracker and plenty of napkins.",90,{"calories":202,"protein":203,"carbs":204,"fat":205,"fiber":107,"sugar":206,"sodium":207,"estimated":109},610,38,48,29,16,1350,[209],{"src":210,"alt":211},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-chilli-crab\u002Fhero.svg","Cracked crab pieces coated in thick orange-red chile tomato gravy with egg ribbons, fried mantou buns alongside",[213,214,215,216,217,218],"chilli crab","singapore chilli crab","mud crab","sweet chili tomato gravy","fried mantou","seafood","2026-08-21","dishroute-kitchen",{"items":222,"total":433,"page":146,"limit":434,"hasMore":435},[223,247,269,291,313,337,363,383,405,412],{"slug":224,"title":225,"nativeName":226,"romanized":227,"countrySlug":8,"region":228,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":229,"cookMinutes":230,"difficulty":231,"course":232,"diet":234,"mainIngredients":235,"images":237,"keywords":241,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-bak-kut-teh","Bak Kut Teh (Peppery Pork Rib Broth)","肉骨茶","bak kut teh","Teochew Singapore",15,105,"easy",[233,82],"soup",[84],[236,89,145],"white-pepper",[238],{"src":239,"alt":240},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-bak-kut-teh\u002Fhero.svg","Bowl of clear peppery pork rib soup with a whole soft garlic head, beside rice and torn dough fritters",[227,242,243,8,244,245,246],"pork rib soup","white pepper","teochew","clear broth","you tiao",{"slug":248,"title":249,"nativeName":250,"countrySlug":8,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":79,"cookMinutes":251,"restMinutes":192,"difficulty":80,"course":252,"diet":255,"mainIngredients":258,"images":260,"keywords":264,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"chai-tow-kway","Chai Tow Kway (Singaporean Fried Radish Cake)","菜头粿",75,[253,254],"street-food","breakfast",[256,84,257],"vegetarian","nut-free",[259,88,89],"daikon",[261],{"src":262,"alt":263},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fchai-tow-kway\u002Fhero.svg","Golden cubes of fried radish cake tangled with set egg, chopped preserved radish and sliced scallions on a plate",[265,266,267,259,268,244],"chai tow kway","fried radish cake","carrot cake singapore","hawker 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oil",{"slug":292,"title":293,"nativeName":294,"countrySlug":8,"region":273,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":78,"cookMinutes":251,"difficulty":80,"course":295,"diet":296,"mainIngredients":297,"images":302,"keywords":306,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-hokkien-mee","Hokkien Mee (Singapore Prawn Stock Fried Noodles)","福建面",[82],[84],[298,299,300,301],"shrimp","egg-noodles","pork-belly","squid",[303],{"src":304,"alt":305},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-hokkien-mee\u002Fhero.svg","Glossy yellow noodles and vermicelli in prawn gravy topped with prawns, squid and crisp lard, with sambal and lime on the plate rim",[307,308,309,310,311,312],"hokkien mee","singapore hokkien mee","prawn stock noodles","fried yellow noodles","sambal belacan","hawker noodles",{"slug":314,"title":315,"nativeName":316,"countrySlug":8,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":275,"cookMinutes":274,"restMinutes":317,"difficulty":231,"course":318,"diet":320,"mainIngredients":322,"images":325,"keywords":329,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-ice-kachang","Ice Kachang (Singaporean Shaved Ice with Beans and Syrups)","Ais kacang",120,[319],"dessert",[256,321,257],"gluten-free",[323,324],"corn","condensed-milk",[326],{"src":327,"alt":328},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-ice-kachang\u002Fhero.svg","A tall mound of shaved ice streaked with pink rose syrup and dark palm sugar over red beans, corn and grass jelly",[330,331,332,333,334,335,336],"ice kachang","ais kacang","shaved ice","gula melaka","singapore dessert","red beans","attap 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lemak",{"slug":364,"title":365,"nativeName":366,"countrySlug":8,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":229,"cookMinutes":367,"difficulty":231,"course":368,"diet":369,"mainIngredients":370,"images":372,"keywords":376,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"kaya-toast","Kaya Toast (Singaporean Coconut Jam Toast with Soft Eggs)","咖椰吐司",45,[254],[256,257],[349,88,371],"butter",[373],{"src":374,"alt":375},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fkaya-toast\u002Fhero.svg","Crisp toast fingers filled with dark coconut kaya jam and thick butter slabs beside a dish of runny soft-boiled eggs",[377,378,379,380,381,382],"kaya toast","coconut jam","kopitiam","singapore breakfast","pandan","soft boiled eggs",{"slug":384,"title":385,"nativeName":386,"countrySlug":8,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":114,"cookMinutes":387,"difficulty":343,"course":388,"diet":390,"mainIngredients":391,"images":395,"keywords":399,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-popiah","Popiah (Singaporean Fresh Spring Roll with Braised Turnip)","薄饼",70,[389],"appetizer",[346,84],[350,392,393,394],"carrot","peanuts","tofu",[396],{"src":397,"alt":398},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-popiah\u002Fhero.svg","Sliced fresh popiah rolls showing braised jicama, shredded omelette, peanuts and lettuce inside a soft wheat skin",[400,401,402,359,8,403,404],"popiah","fresh spring roll","jicama","bangkuang","hokkien",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":78,"cookMinutes":79,"difficulty":80,"course":406,"diet":407,"mainIngredients":408,"images":409,"keywords":411,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},[82],[84],[86,87,88,89],[410],{"src":210,"alt":211},[213,214,215,216,217,218],{"slug":413,"title":414,"nativeName":415,"countrySlug":8,"region":416,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":79,"cookMinutes":114,"difficulty":80,"course":417,"diet":418,"mainIngredients":419,"images":423,"keywords":427,"publishedAt":219,"updatedAt":219,"authorSlug":220},"singapore-fish-head-curry","Singapore Fish Head Curry (Snapper Head in Tamarind Curry)","Fish head curry","Little India",[82],[346,84,321],[420,421,422,349],"white-fish","tamarind","okra",[424],{"src":425,"alt":426},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsingapore-fish-head-curry\u002Fhero.svg","Split snapper head simmering in a red tamarind curry with whole okra, eggplant batons and curry leaves",[428,8,429,430,431,422,432],"fish head curry","tamarind curry","snapper","little india","south indian",10,24,false,1787360064987]