Some eating experiences are transcendental, elevating the art of food to a higher plane, but good food doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, on our travels our most satisfying meals aren’t the high falutin ones with slices of lemon in our water glasses or multiple forks of varying sizes to navigate. Instead, I’ve been all about the no-frills meals that make me feel down-right primitive.
And nothing knocks me a couple of notches down the evolutionary chain more than when I’m attacking a plate full of crab.
Crab is a food you’ve got to work for. Tony says that crabs are so ferocious and scary-looking that, much like durian, the first person who decided he wanted to eat one had to be desperate and I’m inclined to agree with him. Part of my problem is that I don’t rightly know exactly how to eat crab. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I don’t really know how to dismantle a crab to get at the good parts; I’ve even resorted to YouTube videos and other internet walkthroughs to no avail! Unless my crab comes already extracted from its shell, I wind up feeling like an inept bomb expert trying to decide which color wire to cut. All my flailing about generally results in such a paltry amount of meat that I find myself wondering if crab is really worth the effort. Not to mention that I often wind up injuring myself on a sharp claw, resulting in a yowled stream of expletives. Talk about primitive, just a couple of minutes into any attempt to get at a crab’s tasty bits and I’m angrily looking around for a rock so I can just bash the thing open in a fashion that would make my simian ancestors proud.
What can I say—patience never has been one of my strong suits.
Not a day went by during our time in Singapore when we didn’t hear someone extol the near-magical properties of chili crab, a dish so popular many have argued that it—not chicken rice—is the country’s national dish. Nevertheless, given a somewhat spotty track record, I was leery about slapping down a large chunk of change to try it unless we could find someone to chaperone us and help us navigate the crustacean’s tricky armor.
The days passed by, one by one, until we were facing our final night in Singapore without the taste of chili crab having graced our tongues. Our friend Peiyan had agreed to act as guide, but various work and family commitments kept interfering, and it looked like we were going to leave never having tasted this decadent dish…
We might have been willing to give up, but our friends who knew what we would be missing out on, weren’t as ready to call it quits. They knew what we were yet to learn: friends don’t let friends miss out on chili crab. At loose ends about how to spend our last night in Singapore, several people assured us that we should head to Jumbo Seafood, a restaurant chain famed for its chili crab where they would take good care of us. With less than 12 hours before we boarded a bus for Malaysia, we knew it was now or never.
So, we hopped the MRT to Clarke Quay and chose now. All I can say is thank goodness we did.
We arrived at Jumbo to find there was quite a wait for tables, but it seemed like the fates were smiling down on us— so long as we were willing to share a table with complete strangers, we could get right in. Figuring that if anyone was going to witness our abysmal crab wrangling skills it might as well be people we were never likely to see again, we agreed to these terms. Consequently, we wound up seated at a table with six other dining companions including a Chinese family, a very gregarious Aussie with a dining companion we initially thought (hoped?) was his daughter but later deduced (hoped?) was not related to him and may have been paid for her time, and an incredibly enthusiastic and super stereotypical Japanese man. It sounds like the long-winded set up to a joke of middling success, but there you have it.
As the size of Jumbo’s menu will attest (it is approaching encyclopedic proportions) there is plenty more than just chili crab on offer, but we all knew why we were there. The crab is sold at market rate, and the night we dined it was going for S$52/kg (or ~$18US/lb), so a meal here definitely qualifies as a splurge. We ordered 1 chili crab with a side order of mantou. These crispy little nuggets of dough are a bit like savory beignets and are reportedly so delectable that some argue that mopping up sauce with them is the highlight of any chili crab dinner.
Some might balk at dining with strangers, but this kind of communal dining and table sharing is something you simply need to learn to embrace in Asia. In our case, our dining companions wound up being a real boon, as not only did we get some nice dinner conversation, but the Aussie was one of those business travelers you hear about who, even with only 24 hours in Singapore, manages to fit in a meal of chili crab, meaning he was able to give us pointers for disassembling our beast once it was wheeled out to us. That’s not to say there weren’t still some hiccoughs along the way, because there certainly were: Tony’s first attempt at cracking open a claw resulted in an explosion of shell and sauce that left our Japanese dining companion with a tiny portion of our meal on his collar. Not to worry—we were all wearing novelty bibs, and he was too busy taking selfies with an iPad to notice, and even if he had, he was pretty much over the moon that he was getting to eat something so messy, and with his hands no less!
There are no words really to describe the exquisite flavor of Singapore chili crab, or at the very least, any words you do use will inevitably fall short. If you’ve never supped on it, you can’t possibly comprehend the amazing symphony of flavors that make up this dish. Despite the name, chili crab is not really a spicy dish, though there is just enough heat to the sauce to make your cheeks flush and bring a faint tingling to your lips. If I absolutely had to draw a parallel to something else of this earth, I suppose the rich, tomato-base gravy smothering the crab is kind of like the very best sweet and sour sauce you’ve ever tasted. Our initial passes at the crab were hesitant and awkward, but the sauce was so good, it pushed all inhibitions from our mind and we were soon pawing at the crab caveman-style, manically dragging the crispy, chewy mantou across the dish to soak up every last bit. We stopped eating only long enough to order a second round of the little dumplings. The only sounds around the table once our food arrived were they hearty groans of appreciation and the occasional smacking of lips.
It was heaven.
After one meal, I got it. I completely understood how people would plan stop-overs in Singapore just so they could have this dish again and again and again. I can’t believe that it took me nearly 30 years to experience it, that this dish hasn’t somehow made it’s mark across the globe, that I don’t know when I’ll get to have it again. Without a doubt, this is the Singapore dish that I miss the most and still think about wistfully. It wasn’t just our top food experience in Singapore, or even on this trip. This is easily one of the top 10 food experiences of my entire life.
They say that in life nothing worth having is easily won, and I kind of think who ever first uttered those words might have been secretly talking about chili crab. This is a food that leaves its mark; you emerge with your face splattered, like a warrior who has made it through a battle. A glorious, delicious, life-changing battle. The landscape of my food world will never be the same again!
Tell us: Have you ever tried Singapore chili crab? Do you recall ever eating a dish that changed your life?
Oh yes, life changing food. It happens from time to time, like the time I accidentally went fine dining in Spain and ate rabbit and duck. I will never forget that, particularly because I was 18 and definitely could NOT afford it.
I definitely love the communal aspect of mealtime in Asia. I wish North Americans (white people in particular) weren’t so stiff about food sharing, because there’s nothing quite like getting a big dish of something or many little side dishes (as in Korean dining) and just having at ‘er. There really is something about it all that brings people closer. And I like that.
Yes, there are just certain meals that really stick with you and make an impression, and the first time you try something can really be so formative. I remember the first time I tried sweetbreads: they sounded so scary in theory but are so delicious in practice; now I can’t imagine never getting to have them again!
I also agree that Asian food really lends itself to communal dining. I can’t imagine going to a Chinese restaurant and just ordering one dish for myself and that’s that. So much more enjoyable to sample a wide array of dishes!
Mouth. Watering. But hang on — what about the black pepper??
We didn’t get a chance to try black pepper! But next time, for sure—we’ll do one black pepper crab, one chili crab! I have a hard time believing anything could top the chili, but you claim black pepper is better so I guess we’ll have to see…
Again, something new I’d never heard about Singapore!! It sounds delicious. I never seem to be able to get the whole ‘getting the crab actually out’ bit down either – glad you guys had a guide this time 🙂
We are seriously the worst at dismantling crab and our time at Jumbo where most of the work is done for you may have given us false confidence. Let’s just say we tried again while in Vietnam and were not nearly so successful… I think we may have to restrict ourselves to eating crab at Jumbo only! 😀
Amazing! I love meals that require you to dig your hands in and get really messy in order to enjoy them. I really like crab, so I think I would definitely be a fan of this; it sounds delicious!
I think eating with your hands really adds another dimension to food; there really is something deeply satisfying about getting your hands messy and truly digging in to what you’re eating! And if you love crab then you absolutely have to try Singapore chili crab one day; we had some great crab in Japan, but it really did not compare to this!
That dish looks absolutely fabulous. I’m in Europe now, but I totally miss the diversity and strong flavors of foods in Asia.
I will say, I had some life changing meals in Paris. Everything was just SO GOOD!
There is a lot of stuff I look forward to stuffing in my face when we make it to Europe but undoubtedly the biggest reason why I am finding it so hard to leave Asia is because of the incredible food. And of course, the prices are so incredibly cheap for the most part that they really make you re-evaluate whether high price tags on meals are really worth it. I think it will be really hard for us when we do leave Asia, but then again: CHEESE! 🙂
Wow! I’ve never even heard of this dish. But if it’s top ten of your life, I imagine it must be good! I’m surprised I didn’t see this in Taiwan.. or maybe I did, I just didn’t realize what it was. Either way, chili crab is going on the list of must-tries!
I don’t think we ever saw this in Taiwan and although we did have chili crab while in Hong Kong, it was a much drier dish than this version, which makes me think that Singapore chili crab is really a specialty of the country and likely can’t be found anywhere else (maybe Malaysia or in a restaurant specializing in Singapore cuisine). Definitely something you have to try whenever you might make it to Singapore!
Is it really bad that we didn’t try this? We couldn’t find a good spot, it was too expensive, we were lazy, it slipped our minds, who eats crab. All bad excuses for something that looks so delicious.
I think the only way it would be ok for you to not have tried this while in Singapore is if you have a seafood allergy. Even then, half the fun/deliciousness of this dish is getting the crispy-yet-chew mantou dumplings and dipping them in the perfect chili sauce. Our friend Chris is a vegetarian and even he enjoys that portion of this dish!
I guess this just means that you have to go back and rectify your mistake! I promise you, the price of the plane ticket is worth it!
Alas, the one food we didn’t eat in Singapore!! I didn’t really hear about it until after we’d left, gives me an excuse to head back there one day. Looks delish!
Ack! I can’t believe you didn’t try this while in Singapore; I’m fairly certain you two would adore it! The only thing that makes me feel slightly ok about this oversight is that I know you loved the city and will definitely be back… heading for chili crab should be the first thing you do when you get off the plane! 🙂
This is the one Sinaporean dish I didn’t try and, to be honest, I’m not that sad about it. Crabs are hard enough to eat as they are, I can’t imagine trying to eat one dripping in chili sauce. It’s just too messy! Controversial, I know 🙂
Oh, crabs are definitely beasts to eat, but I guess if you’re already going to go to the effort and mess, what’s a little more of both thrown into the mix? 😉 Seriously, every splatter and every stain was well worth it… I would eat this dish a hundred times over dressed all in white and using only my hands and have no regrets! 😀
I have never tried it. Sound silly eh? Mud crab is so expensive in Australia. The cost of ten of them in Sydney would be the cost of a return flight to Singapore…oh hang on….
Do you think airlines will accept mudcrabs as payment? That would be pretty awesome…”One-way ticket from Sydney to Singapore? That’ll be 8 mudcrabs & 1 claw!” I’d fly that airline every time…
Next time you’re in Singapore, get yourself some of this. The only mistake would be in ignoring this advice!
Excellent photos, and really great that you display them large.