The crab is divine but the sauce is the star – sweet yet savoury, slightly spicy and supremely satisfying. You will get it all over your fingers as you crack open the crab shells, and it is simply impossible not to lick it all up.
And you will go back for more, dipping fried or steamed buns, called mantou, to soak up the sauce – a delightful blend of tomatoes and chilli paste, thickened with ribbons of beaten eggs.
Chilli crab is among Singapore’s greatest culinary inventions, the king of all crab dishes. It is easily available in most seafood restaurants, which typically serve it with mud crabs that have deliciously sweet and juicy flesh.