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| Singapore chili crab |
There are several different types of spicy crab dishes in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. There is Singapore chili crab, Malaysian chili crab, Malaysian kam heong crab, Indonesian / Malaysian ketam balado, etc.
Yet the words chili crab and Singapore are often uttered in the same breath and many assumed that the dish is synonymous with Singapore, hence Singapore chili crab. Chili crab (along with chicken rice) is also considered one of Singapore's national dishes, albeit unofficially.
There is no doubt that Singapore chili crab is the best internationally known spicy crab dish. Tourists coming to Singapore have chili crab as one of the bucket list of food they must try before leaving. Singapore chili crab is sold in the USA, for example at Urban Hawker food hall in Mid Town New York City.
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| Steamed swimmer crabs |
Singapore chili crab was created by late Mdm Cher Yam Tian. She was cooking swimmer crabs caught by her husband near their village home in Bedok. Mdm Cher's husband was bored with the traditional Teochew way of cooking crabs by steaming and suggested to her to come up with something spicy.
Mdm Cher came up with a chili crab dish by stir frying swimmer crabs in a wok with tomato ketchup, sambal (a Malay archipelago spicy relish) and probably tau cheo (Teochew fermented soy bean). After a few iterations, the dish was a hit not only with her husband but also her neighbours. Her neighbours encouraged Mdm Cher to sell the chili crabs. She started a makeshift stall at the beach near her village home in Bedok.
The year was 1956. The year Singapore chili crab was born.
1956 also saw, the laying of the Malabar Mosque's foundation stone, opening of Merdeka Bridge to traffic, Singaporean Hari Chandran raced in the Melbourne Olympics under the Malayan flag, Malayan Airways rolled out their new uniforms, and Chinese High School students clashed with riot police.
Mdm Cher's chili crab quickly became famous and business boomed. The mobile makeshift stall constantly visited by hygiene inspectors was soon upgraded to a properly licensed restaurant in 1962 which Mdm Cher's husband named Palm Beach.
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| Chef Hooi style Singapore chili crab |
In 1963, chef Hooi, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Singapore Cantonese cuisine came up with a modified version of Mdm Cher's chili crab dish. It was a dish created for the menu of chef Hooi's Dragon Phoenix Restaurant at Metropole Cinema in Tanjong Pagar which he opened in 1963.
Chef Hooi added eggs, lime juice and fruit vinegar to the tomato ketchup and sambal sauce. Chef Hooi's creation soon became popular and emerged the prevalent version of Singapore chili crab.
The "Four Heavenly Kings" refer to chefs Tham Yu Kai, Lau Yoke Pui, Hooi Kok Wah and Sin Leong.
Lai Wah Restaurant opened in 1963 by two "Heavenly Kings", late Tham Yu Kai and late Lau Yoke Pui also claimed to create the with egg chili crab.
Today, when one speaks of Singapore chili crab, they are referring to chef Hooi's with egg version of chili crab. Even at Roland Restaurant run by Roland (Mdm Cher's son), chef Hooi's with egg version is the default. Mdm Cher's original version is available only on pre-booking.
The most famous and best known chili crab dish in the world is Singapore chili crab. But, the question of where was the first chili crab dish created is harder to answer definitively.
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| Langkawi chili crab. Courtesy of Ng Sock Peng |
Over in Langkawi island (Malaysia), there is a Weng Fung Seafood Restaurant that serves a chili crab dish that also dates back to the 1950s. Weng Fung was founded in the 1920s as a Hainanese coffee shop. The second generation turned it into a seafood restaurant and included a chili crab dish in their menu in the 1950s. This chili crab dish is still served in Weng Fung today.
Weng Fung's version of chili crab differs from the Singapore chili crab in that only rempah (chili and spice mix) is used to cook the crab and no ketchup, egg, starch or vinegar is used.
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| Kepiting balado. Courtesy of Gomarr Academy |
The Minangkabau people from West Sumatra also have a spicy crab dish known as kepiting balado or ketam balado. Balado is a versatile spice mix which is used to cook various dishes such as ayam (chicken) balado, ikan (fish) balado, telur (egg) balado, even nasi balado or balado fried rice, etc., you get the idea. Balado with crab is known as kepiting (swimmers) balado or ketam (mud crab) balado.
Balado is made by frying ground red / green hot chili pepper, garlic, shallot, tomato, kaffir lime leaf, kaffir lime, lemongrass, galangal, etc., in oil. Water and crab is added to the balado. The contents are stir fried and simmered till the water is much reduced and the crabs fully cooked.
The origin of the balado crab dish is unknown but if we assume that it existed before the Minangkabau people migrated to the Malay peninsula, then it would go back to at least the twelfth century.
Minangkabau people travelled between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula to trade since the seventh century and settled in numbers along the west coast of the Peninsula especially Negri Sembilan and Johor, since the twelfth century. Minangkabau migration peaked during the Malacca Sultanate era (1403 - 1511). Ketam balado and its derivatives might give the widely held impression that chili crab is "everywhere along the west coast of Malaysia since long ago".
Chili pepper was brought to Malaya only in the 16th century by the Portuguese. Before chili pepper, locals used peppercorn for the spicy hot elements in balado dishes.
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While the origins of chili crab is uncertain and may be older than 1956 when Singapore chili crab was born, there is no doubt that Singapore chili crab is the best known version and is internationally synonymous with the iconic dish.
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