Editor's note: To see this recipe and others using black pepper, please visit SpiceLines newsletter, Vol. 1 No. 1, "Black Pepper: King of Spice," at www.globalprovince.com/spicelines/index9-05.htm.
Saying that Singaporeans are food-obsessed is like saying the humans breathe air to live. A recent count turned up 3,725 restaurants and 17,070 hawker stalls in this island nation of 4 million. That’s one place to eat for every 200 people. The website www.makantime.com perfectly conveys the unbridled passion Singaporeans bring to food. “Makan” is Malay for “eat” and the site offers enthusiastic raves and pans of places where one can sample fish head curry and all the other exotic dishes that make dining out in S’pore such a thrilling adventure.
For those of us who live elsewhere, Thian, the site’s creator, now residing in Amsterdam, has posted his mother’s “top secret” recipes for his childhood favorites, among them Black Pepper Crab. Peppercorns play an unabashedly starring role in this dish which is practically a national institution. It begins with large, meaty crabs which are stirfried twice, once on their own, then in an incendiary spice paste which features spoonfuls of coarsely ground black pepper, ginger, garlic, soy and oyster sauces. The pepper-crusted shells are fiery hot; in contrast, the meat inside is succulent and sweet. As makantime correspondents like to say, “Shiok!” (“Delicious!”)
To serve 4
Ingredients
2 live Dungeness crabs, 1-1/2 to 2 pounds each
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons garlic chopped fine
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped fine
1 tablespoon Serrano or jalapeno chile, chopped fine
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup black pepper, coarsely ground (or to taste) (see note)
Method:
1. Take the easy way out and have your fishmonger kill and clean the crabs, cut them into quarters and crack the claws.
2. In a large wok, preferably cast iron, heat the oil over a high flame until very hot, but not smoking. Stirfry the crab pieces in two batches, 4 to 5 minutes each, until they turn bright red. Remove from the wok and set aside.
3. Lower the heat to medium high and add the butter to the wok. As soon as it begins to sizzle, add the rest of the ingredients. Stirfry briefly. Then return the crab to the wok and stirfry for 4 to 5 minutes more. Make sure that the crab is well-coated with the peppercorn mixture.
4. Remove from the wok and serve at once with ice cold beer and a stack of napkins.
Note: We recommend using Penzey’s Special Extra Bold Indian Black Peppercorns. The berries are left on the vine to ripen even longer than top tier Tellicherry peppercorns and are plucked when they begin to turn pink. As a result, the flavor is more complex and unusually robust, with a surprisingly mellow burn. (In industry terms, “special” means best flavor and “extra bold” refers to extra-large size; only 10 pounds out of each ton make the grade.) To order, go to: www.penzeys.com.