Fulfilling the last request for family labor day get-together: Chilli Crab. I don’t have the guts to kill live crabs, so I bought cooked king crab legs from Costco instead. Preparing this dish really only involved cooking the sauce and tossing the cooked crab in the sauce. I saved the drippings from steaming lobster and added chicken broth to use as the base of the chilli sauce. The result is finger licking good chilli crab sauce.

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Ingredients

• 3 lbs cooked king crab legs
• 10 shallots
• 10 clove garlic
• 1 thumb-size ginger
• 3 stalks green onions, chopped
• 8 Tbsp ketchup
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 Tbsp sambal chilli paste
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp msg
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 12 oz chicken/lobster broth
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 4 Tbsp water
• 4 Tbsp shallot oil (oil from frying shallot, use other cooking oil otherwise)
• 1 egg, beaten
• Chinese steam buns (馒头)

Directions

1. Defreeze the king crab overnight in the refrigerator if frozen.
2. Mince the garlic, shallot, and ginger in a blender.
3. Combine the water, ketchup, chilli sauce, sambal paste, vinegar, salt, sugar, msg, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside.
4. Mix the cornstarch with 4 Tbsp water and set aside.
5. Fry the Man Tous. Alternatively, steam the buns. Keep warm and have them ready when the chilli crab is cooked.
6. Heat the shallot oil and fry the minced garlic, shallot, and ginger until fragrant. Add the ketchup mixture. Bring to a boil.
7. Add the cooked crab legs. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.
8. Remove the cover, stir in the cornstarch mixture and continue to stir until the sauce is thickened.
9. Stir in the beaten egg and turnoff the heat. Stir in the chopped green onions.
10. Ladle into serving dish and enjoy with the Man Tous.