Black pepper crab is one of the most popular and iconic dishes that crab is served in Singapore. It is made with hard-shell crabs, and fried with black pepper.
Ingredients
- 2 Crabs
- 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Ground White Pepper
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tsp Caster Sugar
- 1 Solo Garlic
- 1 tbsp Chinese Rice Wine
- 10 ~ 20 pcs Fresh Perilla
- 10 ~ 20 pcs Fresh Basil
Preparation
1. To prepare crabs, chill live crabs into the freezer for about 1 hour. Let the crab sleep so that they won’t be able to attach.
2. Ground fresh black pepper. Rinse and shred fresh perilla and basil. Peel the skin of Garlic Clove and minced.
3. Take out the crabs and wear cloves. Cut crabs claws with scissors. Remove the outer shell (the back of the crab, also called the carapace) by sticking your thumb into the hole left from removing the abdomen and lifting up firmly. Remove the abdomen. The shell will detach from the body with some guts attached. Cut the leaf-like, spongy gills from either side of the body to half.
4. Turn the crab upside down, grip it on either side and place your thumbs underneath near the midline on the back (where the shell used to be). Rinse out the greenish-brown guts but not the crab fat. Place crab fat and any juice in a small bowl. Set aside. Break off and discard the mandibles, which are the mouthparts at the front of the crab.
4. Heat little oil in a wok over high heat. Add crabs and minced garlic and cook, turning occasionally, for 2 minutes or until just before cooked through. Add ground pepper, fish sauce, sugar and rice wine to the wok. Turn to low heat and cover with lid. Simmer for 8 minutes until sauce has reduced. Top with basil and perilla, turning occasionally, and serve immediately. Add more ground fresh pepper if you like.
