Dave's "Chili Crab" Noodles Content

Our Spicy Chili Noodles take me to the heat and chili flavors found in Southeast Asian dishes like Singaporean Chili Crab. There are many ways to make Chili Crab sauce, and here is my very loose interpretation of it. Whether or not you love spicy food, I think it’s got a great balance of heat without being overwhelmingly spicy. It’s quick, straight up delicious, and a great way to elevate a weeknight with our noodles.

—

To make the Chili Crab sauce, add some sliced ginger, a few garlic cloves, some tomato paste, doubanjiang, Momofuku Chili Crunch, and tamarind syrup to a blender. Next, add kecap manis, which is a sugary, reduced soy sauce. Add a very small amount of crab paste to the blender. Add palm sugar. Lastly, open three packets of Momofuku Spicy Chili Noodles and add the sauce packets to the blender. Set the noodles aside for later. Blend until smooth.

Add grapeseed oil to a large skillet. Fry the blended sauce in the skillet. If you’re using fresh crab, break it down by taking the gills and face off of the crab.

Try the sauce and add more Momofuku Chili Crunch to taste. Stir fry the crab in the sauce. A lot of people assume that boiling or steaming crab is best, but I argue that shallow frying is the best way to cook shellfish because you don’t lose any of the juices where the flavor is concentrated. Head-on shrimp or firm, white fish would work great as substitutes here too. Add some fish sauce to the skillet and cover it with a lid.

Drop your noodles into a boiling pot of water. I know the packaging instructions say to cook for three and a half minutes, but I personally prefer to cook them for a little longer.

While the noodles are cooking, add MSG to the skillet and stir-fry the crab. Cover. When the crab is cooked, take it out of the skillet. Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and mix them in the sauce. You can optionally mix in a beaten egg before adding the noodles to the sauce too.

Plate the noodles and top it off with the crab. Serve and enjoy. The end result is not traditional nor Singaporean, but still tastes great.

For more information on traditional Singaporean Chili Crab and its story, read these articles in the BBC and VisitSingapore.