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Ahhh Chilli Crab - A dish that Singapore can truly be proud of. That sweet, sour and spicy sauce drizzled lavishly over the crustacean is arguably finger licking good. The really good ones will leave you satisfied with just the sauce, while the best boast tender sweet flesh of the crab plus the magnificent orange red crab roe. \
Today Chilli Crab review is once again from the trusty coffeeshop downstairs. Sometimes the best chilli crabs come from the neighbourhood shops and not the likes of big seafood restaurants. Nonetheless I still fawn over Jumbo Seafood's Chilli Crab. Their crabs are just so big...
Well, the Chilli Crab from Block 313 Sembawang Vista Coffeeshop is considerably one of the better chilli crabs in the north in my perspective. Not too sweet or spicy, it is a dish that can be enjoyed be kids. The crabs used today were from Vietnam and cost a reasonably price of $28/kg.
What I liked about today's Chilli Crab is the hard to disappoint crab roe. Crunchy and refreshing, I reckoned that is the most favoured part of Singaporeans. The meat however was not entirely sweet, but once paired with the sauce, it is almost to die for!
Rating for Chilli Crab : 3.5/5
You might want to consider having the chilli crab with their seafood fried rice. Offering a generous portion of filling and fragrant rice fried to golden brown goodness, simply ladle the chilli crab sauce on it and you are good to go!
I so hope to go back to Jumbo's and check out the crab there again!
Till then!
Where East Meets West. Oriental Fried Rice with Savoury Mince Mix - Sauteed Rice Fusion
0 comments Posted by Justin D. Pereira at 11:08 AM
Sauteed Rice Fusion topped with Fragrant Slices of Chinese Pork Sausages
It's been a very long time since I made my last Fried Rice. I think it has been almost 3 months and I don't know why I suddenly had the craving for it. When it comes to Fried Rice, I always look for the "pang" (fragrance) that exudes from the good mix of ingredients and the rice. Truth to be told, I love mine with that little bit of butter for that buttery smell. Butter and rice just goes very well together (think Pepper Lunch =)
My version of the Traditional Fried Rice (i.e Yang Chow Fried Rice, Salted Fish Fried Rice, etc. etc. etc.) is a mix of a slightly westernised minced meat sauteed together with Garlic Butter Rice. It's an experiment and a creation so you might want to try it out (Read the entire post for recipe)
The dish itself gives off a slight buttery aroma the rice tasted quite good with combination of minced meat and chinese pork sausages. I would even say a perfect blend of flavours - a very heartwarming and satisfying dish to make.
If you whip up this dish, perhaps you would like to try adding some light vegetables by the side to ease the oil (*shudder shudder*) content of the Fried Rice itself. I am ok with it but perhaps some health foodie would love to see more vegetables in the dish itself. An additional tidbit for myself (see the yellow twistie looking snacks coated with green flakes - sound disgusting but is actually quite delicious) I threw in (*think literally) some Nori Hineri Norisuke (Wasabi Wheat Cracker) for a little spice..and to burn my tongue =). Bought it in Jason's Marketplace at Raffles Shopping Centre.
Editor's note : I have no idea why this post has so many (brackets) in between the sentences. Forgive me but I have to elaborate. =)
Sauteed Rice Fusion
Sauteed Rice Fusion
For the Savoury Mince
- 250g Minced Meat (pork, chicken or beef)
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- salt
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
| 1 | Melt butter in pan. Stir fry onions till golden brown. |
| 2 | Add in the minced meat and use the spatula to break the meat into tiny pieces while cooking. |
| 3 | Add the light soy sauce, 2 dash ground white pepper and salt to taste. |
| 4 | Pour in 1/4 cup of water and leave to simmer. Set aside. |
For the Fried Rice
- Savoury Mince (see above)
- Approximately 5 servings of cooked white long grain rice. (estimate from 3 cups of uncooked white rice)
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 chinese pork sausage, sliced
- 4 garlic sprouts, chopped
- 1 omelette, sliced
- 2 sprigs of spring onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt
- 1 tablespoon oil
| 1 | Heat oil in pan. Stir fry the garlic and chinese pork sausages till slightly brown. |
| 2 | Add in the cooked white rice and quickly mix the garlic, sausages and rice together. Add in savoury mince and sautee the rice. |
| 3 | After about a minute, add in the garlic sprouts, omelette, butter, a few dashes of ground white pepper and the light soy sauce. Mix well. Be careful to not let the bottom get burnt. |
| 4 | Add salt to taste and stir in the garlic sprouts and spring onions. Serve. |
Chef's note : It will be good if you had a wok to cook this dish in so you can properly toss the rice in the air to separate the rice while cooking, creating a more satisfying dish. Grainy rice will be preferred (not the ones that stick to each other like Japanese short grain Sushi rice)
The Pomelo
Today's exotic fruit presents us with the Thai Pomelo. Native to Southeast Asia, it is also known as the Chinese grapefruit. I usually love pomelo when they are nice and sweet but the one for tonight's dinner was ugh...soury sweet.
Still, pomelo's are great when Lunar New Year comes about as there are an abundance of them. It's great when tossed with Yu Sheng (Raw Fish Salad) - giving that wonderful fruity taste.
Sweet sour juicy flesh of the pomelo(I sound like a vampire...)
It is hard to argue that the pomelo is not a fruit to be adored. My mum usually leaves the peeled skin of the pomelo out to dry in the sun and create a natural "air freshener". Quite ingenious for the man / woman who discovered this method.
If you ever come across the pomelo and have yet to try it, take the first step. And perhaps you can eat the fruit pip by pip. I think that will take forever =)
