Black pepper crab is traditionally fried before being tossed in this wonderfully fragrant sauce. As much as it’s still absolutely delicious, I don’t like how oily it makes the dish overall. I prefer it to have a similar sauciness to a sweet chilli crab dish instead of this dry, oily concoction. Maybe not as drowning in sauce as the sweet chilli crab but still more saucy than the fried black pepper crab variety. So this is the “healthier” version of black pepper crab, which steams the crab instead of frying it. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family certainly has.
Serves 4 (approx. 456 calories per serve)
Prep time 20 mins
Cook time 20 minutes
Ingredients
1kg crab, cut into quarters (approx. 4 crabs)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp salted soy beans
1 tbsp dried prawn powder
2 tbsp sugar
80g reserved crab juices / tomalley
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cm piece ginger, minced
2 tbsp black pepper, freshly and coarsely ground
40g butter, unsalted
Few sprigs of curry leaves
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
Firstly, prepare the crabs by removing the apron, separating the crab body and carapace, removing the gills and quartering it. Make sure to reserve all the crab juices and the tomalley into a separate bowl. I had about 80g of this golden goodness.
Steam the quartered crabs for about 10 minutes or until cooked through and keep warm.
Add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salted soy beans, dried prawn powder and sugar to the reserved crab juices.
Heat the oil in a wok and add the garlic, onion and ginger and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add the reserved crab juices and sauces and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Stir through the black pepper, butter, curry leaves and steamed crab pieces and cook for a further few minutes until well covered.
Garnish with spring onion and coriander leaves and serve immediately with some rice and greens. Don’t forget an empty bowl for all the crab shell!
More Seafood Recipes
- Singapore style chilli swimmer crabs
- Parmesan crusted fish
- Cambodian stir-fried clams (cha leah)
- Fish tacos
- Seafood boil with creole seasoning