Black-Pepper Crab
Everyone knows about Singapore’s chilli crab but the other – arguably tastier – crab dish worth seeking in the Lion City is the version cooked in a spicy, black-pepper sauce.
Origins
The dish’s more famous cousin, chilli crab, emerged in the 1950s when Madam Cher’s husband asked her to cook crabs differently. Instead of steaming, she stir-fried them in tomato sauce and chilli. The result was so good that she started serving seafood by the beach, before setting up Palm Beach seafood restaurant. A rival restaurant, Long Beach, started the black-pepper version in 1959. Today they are both possibly Singapore’s most famed dishes.
You’ll need
5 tbs coarsely ground blackpeppercorns
2 large crabs, quartered
(Dungeness, Sri Lankan or
mud varieties)
6 tbs unsalted butter
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and
chopped
½ tsp ground white pepper
Pinch of Chinese five-spice
powder
1 tbs oyster sauce
3 tbs Chinese rice wine
3 tbs water
Peanut oil
Cooking Method
1 In a wok, dry-fry the ground peppercorns on low heat to bring out the fragrance. Set aside.2 Heat oil in a large wok over high heat until it starts shimmering.
3 Add the crab, ensuring that the heat remains high. Cook for 4–5 minutes and set aside. Drain the oil from the wok.
4 Reduce the heat to medium. Add the butter and fry the garlic, being careful not to burn them both.
5 Quickly add the black peppercorns, white pepper, five spice powder, oyster sauce, rice wine and water and mix.
6 Return the crab to the wok and stir to completely coat the crab in sauce. Remove and serve.
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