Singapore Chilli Prawns (Chilli Crab Style, 42g Protein)

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Chilli crab is the dish everyone eats when they visit Singapore, and the part they actually remember is the sauce. Sweet, tangy, a little hot, thickened with ribbons of egg, and mopped up with fried mantou until nothing is left. Swap the crab for prawns and you get the same sauce in 25 minutes with 42g of protein per serving and no shells to crack.

I make this version at home far more often than the real thing. A whole mud crab is expensive and messy, and by the time you have picked the meat out, the protein per plate is not that impressive. Prawns give you the same flavor at a fraction of the effort, and the egg in the sauce quietly adds to the protein count too.

If you liked the drier, spicier sambal prawns, think of this as the saucier, sweeter cousin. Same aromatics, very different result.

Why this works

The prawns are seared first, on their own, over high heat and pulled out while still slightly underdone in the center. Then they go back into the sauce for the last minute. This is the same logic as any good stir fry: prawns overcook in about 90 seconds, and if you simmer them in the sauce from the start they turn rubbery before the sauce has reduced. A light dusting of cornstarch on the dry shrimp gives them a very thin coat that helps the sauce cling.

The egg is the part most home versions get wrong. It goes in at the end, over low heat, in a thin stream, and it needs about 15 seconds of not being touched. If you whisk it in on high heat it disappears and just makes the sauce cloudy. Left alone for a moment and then folded gently, it sets into soft ribbons, which is what you get at the hawker stalls.

Ingredient notes

Ketchup is not a cheat here. Nearly every chilli crab recipe in Singapore uses it, because it brings tomato, sugar and vinegar in one bottle. I cut the sugar down to a single tablespoon since the ketchup already carries plenty; restaurant versions use three or four times that. Taucu, the salted fermented soybean paste, adds a savory depth under the sweetness. It is easy to find at any Asian grocer, but a teaspoon of white miso does the same job if you do not have it.

For heat, fresh red chilies plus a spoon of sambal oelek gives a medium burn that most people are happy with. Drop the sambal for a mild version, or add a third chili with seeds if you want it properly hot. For the shrimp, 21/25 or 26/30 size works best. Smaller ones overcook before the sauce coats them. Frozen raw shrimp thawed overnight in the fridge are completely fine and are what I use most weeks. If you cook shrimp often, the tamarind shrimp and kung pao shrimp use the same sear-and-return method.

Singapore Chilli Prawns (Chilli Crab Style)

The sauce from Singapore's most famous dish, sweet and tangy with a chilli kick and ribbons of egg, poured over quick-seared prawns instead of a whole crab. No shell cracking, 25 minutes, 42g of protein per serving.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 385

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 14 oz large raw shrimp 400g, peeled and deveined, tails on or off, size 21/25 or 26/30
• 1/4 tsp salt for the shrimp
• 1 tsp cornstarch for the shrimp
• 1.5 tbsp neutral oil divided
• 4 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 tbsp ginger finely minced
• 2 shallots finely minced, about 1/3 cup
• 2 red chilies Fresno or long red chilies, finely minced, seeds in for more heat
• 1 tbsp sambal oelek or chili garlic sauce
• 1 tsp fermented soybean paste (taucu) optional, or 1 tsp white miso
• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar or juice of half a lime
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3/4 cup water or unsalted chicken stock 180ml
• 2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp cold water, for the sauce
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 2 scallions sliced, plus a handful of cilantro leaves to finish

Method

 

1. Pat the shrimp very dry with paper towels. Toss with the salt and 1 tsp cornstarch and set aside while you prep the aromatics. Mince the garlic, ginger, shallots and chilies finely; a small food processor is fine for this.
2. Stir the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and water together in a small bowl so the sauce is ready to pour in one go.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok or wide skillet over high heat until it shimmers. Add the shrimp in a single layer and sear for about 60 seconds per side, until pink on the outside but not fully cooked through in the thickest part. Transfer to a plate. They finish cooking in the sauce.
4. Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil. Add the garlic, ginger, shallots and chilies and fry, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and fragrant with no raw garlic smell. Stir in the sambal and soybean paste and fry for another 30 seconds.
5. Pour in the ketchup mixture and bring to a simmer. Let it bubble for 1 minute, then taste. It should be sweet, sour and hot in roughly equal measure. Adjust with a pinch more sugar or a splash more vinegar.
6. Stir the cornstarch slurry, then pour it in while stirring. Simmer for 30 seconds until the sauce is glossy and coats a spoon.
7. Turn the heat to low. Pour the beaten egg in a thin stream across the surface of the sauce and wait 15 seconds without stirring, then fold gently two or three times so the egg sets in soft ribbons rather than dissolving into the sauce.
8. Return the shrimp and any juices to the pan and toss for about 1 minute until the shrimp are just cooked through and coated. Scatter with scallions and cilantro and serve right away with steamed rice or mantou buns for the sauce.

Tips and storage

Serve with steamed jasmine rice, or with toasted mantou buns if you can find them in the freezer section. Whole wheat toast, honestly, works nearly as well for mopping up sauce. For a lower carb plate, skip the rice and pile the prawns over blanched bok choy.

Leftovers keep for 2 days in the fridge. Reheat gently in a covered pan over low heat with a splash of water so the sauce loosens without the prawns overcooking. The microwave works if you stop at warm rather than hot. Do not freeze the finished dish; the prawns go mealy and the egg weeps. What you can do for meal prep is make a double batch of the sauce base (everything up to the cornstarch step, no egg), freeze it in portions, and on the day just sear fresh prawns, reheat the sauce, and add the egg. That gets dinner on the table in under 10 minutes.