Black Pepper Crab

- Serves 3-4
Get ready to bring the bold, peppery flavors of Singapore’s Black Pepper Crab into your own kitchen! This dish is a favorite for its intense black pepper sauce that perfectly complements the sweetness of fresh crab. Our easy recipe will guide you through every step to recreate this spicy, savory classic that’s sure to impress seafood lovers and spice enthusiasts alike.
Ingredients for Black Pepper Crab (or Prawn)
3 tablespoons black peppercorns 
1 tablespoon white peppercorns

2 large mud crabs (about 1kg), shelled, chopped and cracked OR 1kg extra-large shrimp (shell on, deveined)
2 cups vegetable or coconut oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup fresh curry leaves 
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
2-3 red chili padi, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons tao cheo paste
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste 
1 cup water, if required
1 tablespoon corn starch, if required 

Recipe
  1. ​Place black and white peppercorns in a mortar and pound using a pestle until coarsely ground. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a large wok until hot. Check by inserting a spatula - the oil is hot enough when you see bubbles appearing along the edge of the spatula. Gently place chopped crab (or prawns) into hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes on medium-high flame until crab (or prawns) changes color. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. 
  3. In a large cast iron wok on low-medium flame, toast ground peppercorns for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons butter along with 2 tablespoons leftover frying oil
  4. Increase heat to medium flame, melt butter and continue stirring. Next, add curry leaves, shallots and garlic; stir-fry for a few minutes until fragrant. Add chili padi, stir well.
  5. Add taocheo, oyster sauce and soy sauce followed by sugar. Stir well until well blended. 
  6. Finally add fried crab or prawns, stir well and continue to cook for another 4-7 minutes, depending on the size of the crab or prawns. (If you wish to serve crab/prawns with some gravy, add up to 1 cup water at this point and bring to the boil. To thicken gravy, finally add cornstarch slurry made by mixing 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Add to sauce and bring to the boil until thick and glossy.)
  7. Serve hot with fluffy mantou buns or steamed rice.


Cleaning and Cutting Crab

  1. Always buy the liveliest crabs at the vendor. Ones that are moving and full of life. Chill them as soon as you get home to make them immobile.
  2. Removing the Apron: The "apron" on a crab is a triangle of shell on the bottom of the crab (on males it is smaller, narrower, and more pointed; on females it is bigger, wider, and more rounded). Remove the apron by grabbing the point towards the front of the crab and pulling it off. Insert a sharp knife through the pointy end under the apron to kill the crab instantly. A small amount of liquid oozes out once the crab is dead.
  3. After you've pulled off the apron, you will see a small hole between the body and the top shell, or carapace, at the back of the crab. Hold the body with one hand and pull off the top shell by grabbing the shell where that small hole is. 
  4. Once the top shell is gone, you'll see the crab's insides. Along the top are two rows of opaque, feathery gills. These are not edible. Simply pull them all off and discard them. 
  5. The mandibles, at the front of the crab, need to be removed - simply snap the two pointy things to break them away from the crab and discard them.
  6. The remaining parts of the crab (besides the shell) that you don't want to eat are the guts. In the world of cleaning animals, crab guts are pretty innocuous. Simply rinse them out under cool running water. Brush the shell if necessary to remove traces of sand.
  7. To remove the large claws, simply twist them off the body and pull. Bash the claws gently with a flat cleaver to crack them to expose meat. 
  8. Using a cleaver, chop the body along the center into two halves. Your crab is now ready to use. Use immediately.
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