Recipe : Chinese Sweet and Sour crabs

To make sweet and sour crabs that packs ooomph, you actually need only a few basic ingredients which are easily found in most kitchens. The key to make a tasty dish is to keep tasting it yourself. Very simple, right?

Here are the ingredients :

RECIPE FOR CHINESE SWEET AND SOUR CRABS

About three crabs or 600 grams
1 large onion, cut into quarters
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 stalk spring onions or Chinese celery for garnishing

POUND OR BLEND the below

2 red chillies

1 bulb garlic, peeled

1 large size ginger

1 tablespoon of fermented bean paste (taucheo)

FLAVOURINGS

1-2 tablespoon of white vinegar (you can get this cheap cuka buatan for mere RM2 and below, it has a very strong smell)
5-6 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
5-6 tablespoons of chili sauce
sugar, salt and pepper
Oil
One egg – beaten

I used flower crabs which is sweeter and although the flesh is not as solid as mud crab, this flower crabs make the best sweet and sour crab dish because it soaks up the gravy very well.

METHOD FOR SWEET AND SOUR CRAB

Heat some oil and stir fry the pounded ingredients till fragrant. Add in the crabs and continue frying. Add in the flavourings except the egg. Usually, it is not necessary to add water because the crab will have leave some juices. Otherwise, add just a little to cover all the pieces of the crabs. Leave to simmer for around 30 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add more vinegar, sugar or salt if needed.

Just before you turn off the fire, add in the beaten egg and give the crab a good stir so that the egg makes the gravy thick and creamy.

This is a very tasty dish, best eaten with white rice or toasted bread. Normally, we do not like order this dish when eating at seafood restaurants because it is really messy and disgusting to be seen sucking and licking those fingers covered with the yummy sauce. Anyway, I can cook an equally evil dish at home at a fraction of the cost outside, so that makes up for it.

The flower crabs are very expensive. The three crabs above cost RM26, at RM32 per kilograms. However, they are really fresh and the female crab is stuffed with roe.

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