Marketman's Chili Crabs

Crab is tastiest when eaten on the same day, hence killing it just before cooking. To read more about Mr. Marketman, click this link.

Serves 6 to 8

4 kilos of live large, cleaned alimango (mud crab),
     cut into 4 to 6 pieces each
unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped ginger
3 tablespoons onion
2 tablespoons garlic
chopped 4 to 8 siling labuyo (bird's eye chilies)
a dash or two of Shaoxing rice wine
8 to 10 cups tomato sauce
a bottle of the chilli sauce
sea salt to taste
1 lightly scrambled egg
1 tablespoon of wansuy (cilantro)
more chopped wansuy (cilantro) for garnish

1  Heat a very large pan over high heat and add  butter. Add ginger and sauté for a minute or so. Then add onion and stir for another minute or two before finally adding garlic. Once this is cooked (2 to 3 minutes), add the crab and stir until the meat turns opaque and the crab is essentially half-cooked, roughly 5 to 8 minutes.

2  Add  siling labuy. Add a dash or two of Shaoxing rice wine and stir for a minute. Add tomato sauce, a bottle of the chilli sauce. Add sea salt to taste and stir to mix and let this cook for a few minutes longer until the crab is cooked through. Add scrambled egg to the pan and stir to thicken the sauce. Add wansuy, stir and turn off the heat. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with more chopped wansuy.

Photography by Ocs Alvarez | Styling by Belle Alvarez