Sunday, January 8, 2012

New Year's resolution: Chili Crab!

Do you make new year's resolutions and when that year is almost over, you're preparing for your next resolutions and little did you know you haven't fulfilled any of your previous ones?

Sounds familiar to HT wife but this 2012, after 2 weeks of drinking, eating and merrying, she decided to do something this early in 2012 which has been part of her resolutions since she moved to Holland...that is to cook crabs!!!

Funny that i have thought about it when i'm living in a country where crabs are usually not part of a family's table.  (compared how we eat it in the Philippines and Singapore per se).  There's dampa in the Philippines and my mom cooks pretty good buttered garlic crabs or steamed crabs.  Singapore provides wide range of shops serving crab dishes.

Yes, i've fulfilled one of the my resolutions already this 2012, and thanks to a friend of mine who gave us chili crab mix. :)


It all started going to the market and looking for crabs.  There was only one stall selling it (we prefer moving ones), and got 2 of them.

ta -dah!  We kept them in a backpack.  HT hubbie was walking around the centrum with moving crabs behind him...yes, he and the crabs survived for 3 hours.

Now the challenge...was to stop them from moving.
my mom told me to steam them alive!!! "oh, and don't forget to put ginger in the water".  HT couple didn't know what to do but to follow.  Later on, HT hubbie decided the next time, we just freeze them so they get numbed instead of the suffering they encounter from hot water (he's such a sweetie, to think about it...:)  Yeah, but eating it says otherwise :))

We were scaredy-cats cleaning and cutting the crabs alive.  And believe me this is the wrong way.  We were so stressed that we just wanted to get it over and done with.  Check out this video of Jumbo Singapore (one of the crab places we love in SG).  They cut them alive!!!

I cannot teach you how to do this chili crab mix, but this is available in any toko, asian store here in the Netherlands.  In Singapore, you can buy them in supermarkets or Jumbo is selling the pre-mix sauces now.  If only we are in Singapore, then we wouldn't bother making this. :)

the finished product after all the hard work :)


with mantou, chinese steamed buns (of course).  We prefer fried mantou but after all the eating during the holiday season, we decided to keep it healthy.  This is the same bread used for bapao, siopao or hong ba pao.  Also available in the toko.

It was a great start for 2012!

HT wife is fulfilled...

 and so is Tommie... *wink*

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