Worldwide foodaholics fall for two Asian crab dishes: Vietnamese Tamarind crab and Singaporean Chilli crab.

Tamarind crab is loved for its rich sauce and harmonious taste of spicy - salty - sweet flavors, awakening all senses right the first bite. This dish is easy to make and requires only simple ingredients.

Total cooking time: 45 minutes, excluding the marinating time (preparation: 15 minutes, cooking: 30 minutes)

Servings: 4-5 people

Total calorie: 2924 kcal

Ingredients

- 1 kg of Ca Mau crab or sea crab. Instruction on how to choose a delicious crab: You should choose ones that are still is alive, strong, have a dark brown color. Their shell should be tough and stay attached firmly to the bodies.

- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

- 1 teaspoon of ginger powder (or minced ginger)

- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (or minced garlic)

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Ingredients to make the tamarind sauce (you can adjust the below seasonings to taste):

- 1 tablespoon of minced lemongrass

- 1 tablespoon of chopped purple onion

- 1 well-chopped chili

- 1 tablespoon of chopped or shredded ginger

- Half an onion, well-chopped

- 40 ml of tamarind sauce

- 25 grams of sugar

- 2 teaspoons of fish sauce

- 2 teaspoons of chili sauce

- 2 teaspoons of oyster oil

- 1 teaspoon of cashew oil

- 1/2 bowl of water

- A small amount of flour + water to thicken the sauce

- Bread crumbs, roasted peanuts, Vietnamese coriander

Cooking instruction

- Wash the crab, use scissors to separate the crab shells then clean the meat, cut them into small pieces.

- Marinate the crab with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of ginger powder (or minced ginger), 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (or minced garlic), 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir well, marinate the crab for 15 minutes.

- Pour cooking oil into the pan (you need a high amount of oil to fully cover the crabs).

- Cover the crab with a mixture of flour and water, then put them in hot cooking oil. Fry the car for 4-5 minutes to ensure they are well-cooked. Sprinkle a little flour on the crab shell to cover the eggs and fry them for 3 minutes.

- Make tamarind sauce: add tamarind sauce, sugar, fish sauce, chili sauce, oyster oil, cashew oil, and water into a bowl, stir well.

- Quickly fry purple onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, chili.

- Add the above tamarind mixture and give it a good stir

- Then add onions, cook. Seasoning suitable for families.

- Add the water + flour mixture, stir well until the sauce gets thicken.

- Put the crab into the tamarind sauce mixture, stir well, then turn off the heat.

- Present the crab meat on a plate, put the crab shells on top. Then, pour the tamarind sauce on top, add roasted peanuts, coriander (optional) and enjoy.

Valerie Mai