Steamed flower crabs in taucheo chilli is one of many of my mum’s signature dishes. The taucheo (soya bean paste) chilli sauce is so easy to make with only three ingredients (taucheo, chilli padi and garlic). It is also very versatile and can be used in many other stir-fry dishes such as with pork or yong tau foo.
I like to drizzle the spicy and savoury sauce over my rice. Flower crabs are used and not only are they cheap locally, they are quite meaty too.
Step-by-Step Photos
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Remove the crab shell and cut it in two along the center. Remove and discard the spongy gills.
Using an electric blender, grind the garlic and chilli until finely chopped.
Add in taucheo and blend until a paste is formed.
Heat oil in wok, and stir fry taucheo paste until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add flower crab pieces to the wok and stir fry briefly to coat them in the taucheo sauce.
Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover the wok with lid and let the crabs steam for about 15 minutes. If the water dries up at any time during steaming, add more water. When the crab is cooked, you can also stir in a beaten egg to mix in with the sauce (I didn’t add egg on this occasion).