🍽️ DINNER
Chilli Crab
Singapore unofficial national dish: mud crab wok-tossed in a sweet, spicy, savoury tomato-chili sauce laced with egg ribbons.
Singaporean · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 25 min
~309 cal · 26g protein · 13g carbs · 17g fat · 2g fiber · 5g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chilli crab is Singapore unofficial national dish, invented in the 1950s when a hawker added a chili sauce to stir-fried crabs. Whole mud crabs are cracked and tossed in a glossy sauce built from tomato, chili, belacan and a touch of ketchup, then finished with beaten egg swirled in to make silky ribbons.
It is gloriously messy: you dig in with your hands and mop the sauce with fried or steamed mantou buns. Less fiery than the name suggests, the sauce is a balance of sweet, spicy, tangy and deeply savoury, and no bib is ever offered.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 2 (about 1 lb each) live mud crab, cleaned and cut into pieces
- 1 tbsp belacan ()
- 1 egg, beaten
- 5 red chilies, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp ginger, grated
- 3 shallots
- 1 cup tomato passata
- 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup
- 1 tsp sugar
- to taste salt
Instructions
- 1Blend the chilies, garlic, ginger and shallots into a rough paste. Whisk the cornstarch with a little water and set aside.
- 2Heat the oil in a wok and fry the chili paste with the belacan until fragrant and the oil turns red.
- 3Stir in the tomato passata, sweet chili sauce, ketchup, sugar and a cup of water and bring to a simmer.
- 4Add the crab pieces, cover, and cook 8 to 10 minutes until the shells turn bright red and the meat is cooked, turning them in the sauce.✎ Chef’s noteCook the crab right in the sauce so it takes on flavour and lends its brininess back.
- 5Stir in the cornstarch slurry to thicken, then pour the beaten egg in a thin stream and drag a fork through to make ribbons.
- 6Season, transfer to a platter, and serve with steamed or fried mantou buns to mop the sauce.
Singapore seafood classic.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Singapore. Chicken rice is claimed on both sides of the causeway. It descends from Hainan's Wenchang chicken, brought over by Hainanese migrants and reworked with Cantonese technique, so Singapore and Malaysia each have a case and neither has a clinching one. The rice cooked in the poaching stock is the part nobody argues about.
🗺️
Singapore. Several famous dishes here carry claims rather than settled histories. Hainanese chicken rice and laksa are contested with Malaysia and neither country gets to close the argument; chilli crab's invention is credited by Singaporean accounts to Cher Yam Tian in 1956, which is a claim by a named family rather than a documented first. Kaya toast, coconut-and-egg jam on charcoal-toasted bread with soft eggs, is less argued over.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Singapore
Hainanese Chicken RiceSilken poached chicken over rice cooked in its broth, with chili-ginger sauce, Singapore’s national obsession.
Kaya ToastToasted bread spread with coconut-egg kaya jam and butter, with soft-cooked eggs and kopi.
Bak Kut TehPork ribs simmered in a peppery, garlicky broth, Singapore's restorative bowl eaten with rice and dough fritters.
Browse all Singapore recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Wok, Steamer, Blender, Whisk.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Singapore meal
BandungDrink
Pulut HitamDessert
Katong LaksaLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chilli Crab?
Singapore unofficial national dish: mud crab wok-tossed in a sweet, spicy, savoury tomato-chili sauce laced with egg ribbons.
Where does Chilli Crab come from?
Chilli Crab is a Singaporean dish from Singapore, Singapore.
Can Chilli Crab be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chilli Crab recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chilli Crab safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chilli Crab take to make?
About 50 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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