RECIPE: Spicy Crab Recipe

Here is one of the many Malaysian dishes that I learned to replicate since nothing like this is available anywhere in Texas. It's spectacular with Alaskan Dungeness crab which has lots of succulent meat. It would be just as delicious with any other kind of crab, prawns (shrimp), clams or other seafood.

Ingredients: (A)
Grind until very fine into a paste (rempah) these 5 ingredients:

12 shallots/ 2 medium red onions, peeled
8 cloves garlic, peeled
6-8 dried chillies (the ones here in US are small, so double the no.)
8-10 fresh red chillies/red jalapenos
2 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled

(B)
1/2 cup of dried prawns, soaked in water and chopped roughly
2 big bunches of curry leaves (I get mine from Indian grocery stores)
3 tbsp oil
3- 4 lbs of crabs, preferably steamed and cut up into pieces.
(this is so the rempah doesn't burn while your crab slowly cooks)
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Method:
1. Saute rempah/ground paste in oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until very fragrant
2. Add curry leaves and dried prawns. Stir well for about 5 minutes.
3. Add salt and sugar to taste. I usually go for about 1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar.
4. Turn up the heat to medium-high, and throw in the crabs. Stir to coat every piece and mix well.
Keep on cooking crabs for about 10 minutes, all the while stirring every minute or so. Add a lid to your pot/wok if possible to facilitate faster cooking. Don't let the rempah burn!
5. Taste the rempah. Add more salt or sugar if needed.