I cook this dish pretty often . Most of the time I get my fresh flower crabs from the wet market at Seksyen 6 Shah Alam. My 4 yr old Umar gets a kick from picking out crabs from the tray . He can tell if they have eggs , 'boys' or 'girls'. Anyway , here's a simplified recipe of how i make MY chilli crab.
Ingredients
Crabs ( 5-6 pcs )
Chilli sauce
Oyster sauce
Dried Chilli paste ( cili boh 1 tsp)
Red Onions ( 10 ) blend
Garlic (3) blend
Ginger ( an inch ) blend
Galangal ( an inch ) blend
Dried Shrimp ( small handful) blend
Shrimp Paste ( size of 10 cent coin)
Chop crabs into two. My kids dont eat claws so i tend to separate the claws from the body too . Put in place and steam. Make sure you catch all the drippings on the plate . They'll flavour the sauce nicely.
Heat 5 tablespoon of oil . Add 1 tsp chilli paste .
Add all the finely blended ingredients. Add shrimp paste
Add 1/3 bottle of chilli sauce ( i like Maggi ) and 1/4 bottle oyster sauce. well here's where you use your judgement . if you like it spicy add more chilli sauce . If you're serving kids like us , go easy on chilli sauce and add more oyster sauce. Thin the sauce with a bit of water.
Add the steamed crabs and its drippings.
Add salt & pepper to taste
Extra : You can beat an egg and stir into the sauce in a thin stream right at the end. But you'll need a slightly looser sauce for this , so add a lil bit more water if necessary.
