Chili Crab

Method

1. Ask the fishmonger to prepare the crab for same-day cooking, removing gills and inedible parts and cracking large claws without crushing the shell into fragments. Keep chilled and brush away loose shell splinters. This recipe is for raw cleaned crab, not already cooked whole crabs.
2. Heat oil in a deep lidded wok or wide saucepan. Cook the onion over medium heat for 4 minutes, then add garlic, ginger and fresh chilli. Stir for 45 seconds, keeping the garlic pale.
3. Add passata, ketchup and chilli-garlic sauce and cook for 3 minutes, stirring until the sauce loses its raw tomato aroma. Add soy sauce and measured water or stock, and bring to a simmer.
4. Add the crab sections, turning them in the sauce, and cover. Simmer for 12–18 minutes, turning twice so the thick pieces heat evenly. Add hot water in small splashes if the sauce catches before the crab is ready.
5. Check meat in the thickest claw or body section is opaque and firm and reaches 63°C; shell redness alone is not enough. Remove smaller cooked sections to a warm dish if larger claws need more time.
6. Stir the cornstarch slurry and add only enough to lightly thicken the bubbling sauce. Pour the egg in a thin stream while stirring slowly, then simmer for 1 minute until the egg is fully set. Return any crab sections removed earlier and heat through.
7. Taste the sauce, add optional sugar only if sharply acidic, and finish with lime juice and spring onions. Serve immediately with rice or bread prepared separately. Provide a shell cracker and a discard bowl, and tell diners to watch for cracked shell edges.