D e l i s i o u c i t y

Growing up by the sea always ensured that we had plentiful of iron from the local harvests. Ok ok, this post isn’t really about iron or iron deficiencies but I thought that remark needed to be made because there are a lot of people who don’t eat seafood on a regular basis. My parents used to haul fish on occassion that the seas were seasonally bountiful. Sometimes they only had to pick the remnants of other friends’ haul as there would have been a bevy of leftover small-sized fishes and fries. The seas always reminded me of my father as he had sailed almost all of his working life. It also reminds me of the fact that him and my mother loved visiting the beach, just to check the tides and feel the breeze At one point, they stumbled upon a turtle and helped it lay its eggs (which they later helped themselves with!) by lifting its rear end up for an hour. I had a good laugh hearing that story when they came home later that day.

Back to seafood. I love eating crab the most. My mom’s favourite recipe would most likely be the soy sauce crab because she had cooked that almost everytime we bought these crustaceans. I on the other hand, would eat any style the crab is cooked in… but most prefer the chilli crab concoction, Singapore style.

ssss… hawt! booyaa!

This is all, of course, provided that the crab is fresh ^_^ And I am lucky enough to have moved to a place (much much away from my parents’ home) to just 5 minutes away from the same large sea. Its harvests are of abundance, as always. The seafood market is located right on the harbour where the fishermen ‘park’ their boats, sort and sell; and without a doubt, the produce can be as fresh as you can get. There is also a cool ice cream truck parked there all the time, with its much alluring music playing and tempting seafood buyers. Anyway, I tend to digress. The chilli crab recipe here is mine. It may depart not-too-significantly away from the Singapore style, but then all cooks put in their own personal touches to their cooking

Chilli Crab

• 1.5 kg fresh crab
• 3 tbspns Chilli paste (this is a specific type that I could find only at Hua Ho – it looks hard & pasty, and always in the refridgerated section. You may use the liquid version as well)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cm fresh ginger, grated
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 4 cloves of shallots
• 1 lemongrass
• 2 pcs of Kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tbspn Thai chilli sauce
• 1 tspn hot sauce (Tabasco)
• A few stalks of Cilantro
• Salt to taste

Method
Pound the shallots and garlic together in a mortar (or pulse in a processor). Heat your wok and add oil, and ensure that it’s hot. Add the chilli paste and saute… this will release the hot fumes from the chilli so be warned! I was choking myself. Add the grated ginger, garlic and shallots. Scramble in the eggs. Add lemongrass, and twist in the kaffir lime leaves. Then in comes the chopped crab, leave it to simmer and change colour for a good 8 to 10 minutes, covered. Season with salt and tabasco, and add in chopped cilantro.

It’s quite possible that other people enjoy eating crab for the reason that I do: because it can get really messy!