RSSSingapore’s Famous Chili Crab: Not for the Faint of Heart (Burn)
By Paul Baiocchi | September 12, 2008 | 6:13 AM | 3 Comments
Few things I do or say illicit uniform reactions. The obvious exception, is the mustache I have sported in recent months. That thing was a social experiment gone terribly wrong. The other, less obvious exception, was the advice people gave me upon learning that I would be spending four months in Singapore. After telling me that I was likely to be caned (great reputation I have amongst my friends apparently), anyone who had spent considerable time in the country told me to try the Chili Crab.
At first blush, this sounded like the perfect merger of two of my favorite things in life; spicy food and crab. Having been raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, home of some of the most epic crab in the world, I felt as if the stars had aligned in my favor once again. I envisioned getting off the plane, hailing a cab, and telling the cab driver to drop me off at the local Chili Crab dealer as I slipped him a c-note. In this vision I would get out of the cab and have women fanning me as I walked into the restaurant as if I was some form of royalty at which point I would be fed chili crab by the Gold Rush.
In reality, I arrived in Singapore just before midnight in the middle of the week only to be whisked away to a two star hotel I booked through my good friend Orbitz. This may have been for the best as my local Singaporean contact strongly advised me to wait a week or two to allow my stomach to "acclimate" to the local cuisine before ascending mount chili crab. As a native Californian who had spent plenty of time in Mexico, the legend of Montezuma's revenge was fresh enough in my mind to error on the side of caution in this instance. As such, I deferred to my local sage's advice and waited nearly a month before embarking on the chili crab discovery tour.
When I felt my physiology had been appropriately conditioned for the legendary crab of chili a group of my colleagues and I headed down to the local Seafood hotspot, East Coast Seafood Park. Once there, we made a b-line for Chin Wah Heng Seafood Restaurant, a Singaporean mainstay right on the water which had been tried and tested by our local guide's family. Our group sat out on the patio which is fine, provided a sufficient breeze, but can be downright unbearable on a hot, muggy night.
We began the night with an appetizer called "Drunken Prawns". Before I continue I must warn RTH that he may want to skip past this part. The waiter brought out the live jumbo prawns in a Pyrex bowl covered by a plate.
I am guessing this is to prove that the prawns were living at one point. Much to our surprise, one of the living prawns jumped out of the bowl and onto our plate of peanuts. Nice try big guy. Although I did not cry when they came back dead swimming in a broth of liquor, I think RTH may have lost it. This dish was forgettable in my opinion, as the broth did not impart enough flavor onto the prawns, leaving what could only be described as a "fishy" taste. Add this to the fact that it smelled like a dive bar when it arrived based on the fact that the broth is liquor based, and I'll pass in the future.
Our main course, while dominated by the Chili Crab, did include a very nice mixed vegetable dish, delicious fried rice, and surprisingly tasty steamed fish.
But make no mistake; the star of the night was the chili crab. It came out on an oversized plate, traditionally with two whole crabs. For the sake of the user the crab is dismantled and reconstructed strictly for aesthetics. The dish is messy enough as it is. If you had to crack these things apart you would leave the restaurant looking like you just left a crime scene. Never mind that I still managed to leave looking that way.
Underneath the crab's head shell is luscious crab meat that has been drenched in what can only be described as a sweet and spicy tomato based sauce. For people who enjoy spicy food this may suit your needs perfectly. For people who have little tolerance for spice, be forewarned: this dish is no joke.
The sauce itself incorporates crab meat creating an ideal dipping sauce for the incredible buns (Mantou) that typically accompany the dish. Every bite is an explosion of various flavors, ranging from garlic to egg to soy to ginger back to crab. The spice is a bite that hits hard, on a bit of a delay. The sauce is so good I considered asking our waitress if it would be inappropriate if I lifted up the plate and poured it into my mouth. Yes it would be? Ok cool.
In retrospect it is probably a good call for anyone visiting Singapore who has digestive issues taking a couple preemptive shots of Pepto-Bismol just to be safe. I was fine, but I have heard some horror stories.
The hype surrounding the Chili Crab proved to be well founded and has made a believer out of this Italian. I must give credit to those who recommended I give the dish a try. On the other hand, I have still yet to get caned so they are all only batting .500.
| 
|
Comments (3) | Related Topics » Lifestyle | Wine & Food | Travel
|
|
|
