Salt and pepper crab
The original intent was to cook Chinese-restaurant-style salt and pepper crab. However, the result is very different to what I expected. It is more like smoked peppery crab… :). The smokey flavor must have come from the sichuan peppercorns burnt by the heat of the wok.
Ingredients
700 gr – 1 kg mud crab, cleaned and cut into 6-8 pieces
Corn flour 3-5 tbsp
7 garlic cloves, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 birds’ eye chillies
2 tsp unsalted butter
2 tsp Sichuan salt and pepper mixture
1 tsp sugar
Cooking oil for deep frying
How to
1. Heat cooking oil in a wok.
2. Sprinkle corn flour over mud crabs, and deep fry for approximately 4 minutes. Remove, and drain on a paper towel.
3. Reserve 1 tbsp of oil in the wok, and lower the heat to medium.
4. Add garlic, shallots and chillies. Stir fry until fragrant.
5. Add butter whilst keep stirring until it melts. Add salt and pepper mixture and sugar.
6. Add crabs and stir fry for 30-40 seconds. Serve with fried rice or mantou.
Kitchen challenges 