Spicing up the New Year with Chili Crab

My best friend, Reena, loves crabs. In fact, I have not met any Malaysians that doesn't love seafood. Since Reena is in town, I figured I should take the opportunity to have her help with cooking some Chili Crabs, which I deemed to be difficult especially since I've never cook any in my life before!

We followed a recipe found on the internet. But Reena was suspicious about the chili paste that I have gotten. So, we added some curry paste. It turned out to be delicious. We probably spent more than an hour cracking the crab shells and slurping on the crab meat. And the pairing with some Tiger beer... just so heavenly.

Cheers to another one of my first time -- cooking Chili Crab, that is.

Chili Crab
2 Dungeness crabs, about 1.5 lb each
4 tbsp of vegetable oil
3 tbsp of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp of ginger, finely grated
1 large egg
salt and pepper

Chili Sauce (to combine):
4 - 5 tbsp of chili paste
1 cup of tomato ketchup
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of rice vinegar or lemon juice
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
1 tbsp of soy bean paste
1 tbsp of cornstarch
1 cup of water

Clean Dungeness crabs and cut into halves. Crack the shells and claws ever so gently, if desired.
In a bowl, combine chili sauce ingredients. Mix well.
Heat vegetable oil in a hot wok. Add garlic and ginger, stir fry for 2 - 3 minutes.
Add combined chili sauce.
Bring sauce to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Toss in crabs. Stir fry to coat with the sauce for about 2 minutes.
Cover and cook crabs over med-high heat until the crabs turn red in color.
Lift cover from time to time to give it a good stir. Check that the sauce does not dry up and add some water if necessary.
When crabs are almost fully cooked, push crabs to the sides of the wok.
Break an egg into the sauce, stirring gently to form yellow and white streaks. Then, mix in crabs.
Remove crabs from the wok and keep warm. Let stand for 10 minutes for flavors to meld.
Serve with bread or French baguette to dip into the yummy sauce and pair with a nice, cold Tiger beer!