Pepper Crab (Singaporean)
Ingredients
2 lbs large mud crabs or prawns, claws cracked,
shells removed and cleaned. Drain to dry.
Or 1 lb soft shelled crabs
1 cup flour if using soft shelled crabs
4 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
4 tbsp butter
10 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
10 slices young ginger
1 to 2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soya sauce
2 tsp sugar (optional)
Coriander leaves to garnish
Oil for deep frying.
Instructions
Dry-fry black pepper in a wok or frying pan till
fragrant. Remove and keep aside. The crabs taste
best if they are deep fried in very hot oil first deep
fry on all sides till the crabs turn red. Drain and keep
the oil aside. For soft shelled crabs, pat the crabs
dry, cut each crab into 4, coat with flour and deep
fry till golden browned and crispy. Heat a wok, add
the butter and when it melts and is hot, add the
garlic, ginger and chillies and stir fry for 3 minutes
till the mixture is fragrant. Add the oyster sauce,
soya sauce and sugar and stir well before adding
the pepper. Stir fry a few seconds on high heat, add
the crabs and stir fry 1 minute. Serve with the garnish.
DRY FRYING is an old fashioned cooking method where food is
stir fried till fragrant in a wok or frying pan without oil.
