Chili crab is the most famous crab dish of Singapore and also popular in Malaysia. But, there is a similar dish known as Sweet & Sour Crab which we still sometimes see in restaurant menus.
What is the difference between Chili Crab and Sweet & Sour Crab?
The Chinese enjoyed the sweet and sour taste profile for literally thousands of years. However, the sweet and sour taste profile of the early days was achieved differently from today. The early versions of sweet and sour sauce 糖醋醬 attributed to Henan province, was a blend of light vinegar and sugar. The vinegar and sugar sauce was used as a condiment, as a dip for fish, poultry and meat. It was also used a salad dressing.
Later, sweet and sour sauce was used in cooking too. A Tang dynasty (618 - 907) royal banquet menu "烧尾宴食单" has several sweet and sour dishes including sweet and sour spare ribs which is common in Chinese restaurants to this day.
When bottled tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and HP sauce became accessible around the 1950s, chefs in British Hong Kong used these to create the sweet and sour taste profile. The new blended sauce quickly caught on and travelled to Southeast Asia and the world with HK chefs. The added umami from tomato ketchup (and the other Western sauces) appealed to tastebuds accustomed to the traditional sweet and sour from vinegar and sugar mix. The umami elevated the old vinegar and sugar sweet and sour sauce.
Many sweet and sour dishes emerged using this bottled ketchup and Western sauces blend, e.g. sweet and sour sea bass, the ubiquitous sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour prawn (har lok), etc.
Ketchup-flavoured dishes also gained popularity in Singapore around the 1950s, after Singapore hotels began hiring chefs from Hong Kong.
According to chef Hooi Kok Wah's interview with Sheere Ng, a dish of crabs stir-fried with tomato ketchup gained popularity at the People's Park Market in the 1950s.
Bottled spicy, sweet and sour chili sauce made by blending fresh chillies, vinegar, sugar, and salt became widely available in the early 1900s. One example is Lingham's chili sauce from Penang which was available since 1908. One hundred years on, Lingham's chili sauce is still widely available in Malaysia, Singapore and also across the world in over twenty countries.
But, it is not known who, when or where someone put bottled ketchup, bottled chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce together with crab and created sweet & sour crab.
The sauce for sweet and sour crab is made with ketchup, bottled chili sauce, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. To cook, first sauté chopped garlic, onion and ginger in oil. After flavours are released, stir fry the chopped crabs in the aromatised oil. When the crabs are medium done, add in the ketchup - chili - Worcestershire sauce and continue to stir fry, simmer the crabs till fully cooked.
While the exact origins of sweet & sour crab is not clear, this dish is still available in some restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia (the dish almost completely eclipsed by chili crab). It is also cooked at home for its relative simplicity (sauces come straight from bottles). It is often called chili crab, the famous dish from Singapore (with which it is very similar but different).
Instead of using bottled chili sauce, Singapore chili crab uses sambal which is a Malay / Indonesian origin spicy relish made with ground chili pepper and spices. Sweet and sour crab has a less spicy taste compared to chili crab as bottled chili sauce is generally less spicy and has a sweet, tangy taste as well.
The origins of Singapore chili crab are well documented. There are two main versions of the dish.
The 1956 version by Mdm Cher Yam Tian uses tomato ketchup and sambal (not bottled chili sauce). She cooked flower crabs which her husband caught off the beach at today's Bedok Corner. Hubby suggested that Mdm Cher try cooking the crab by other than the usual Teochew steam and blanch methods. Mdm Cher came up with her spicy chili crab, blending ketchup and sambal after about five months of experimentation.
The 1963 version was created by chef Hooi at his Dragon Phoenix Restaurant. Chef Hooi blended bottled tomato ketchup with sambal, lime juice and vinegar as well as finished the dish with beaten eggs to smoothen and thicken the sauce.
Chef Hooi's with egg version is the prevalent variety today. It is served even at Mdm Cher's son's Roland Restaurant. Mdm Cher's 1956 version is available only on pre-arrangement at Roland Restaurant.
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