Crabs in Sweet and Sour Chilli Sauce

I was given the duty to prepare the lunch spread for the bride and groom at a relative's wedding recently. This is called "makan beradab" in Malay. As this was the first time I was given the honour, I was a bit panicky. There was not much preparation, let alone the right ingredients. I was given 3 of each of 3 types of fish; siakap ( sea-perch), gerut-gerut (white snapper) and bawal hitam (sole), 1 kg of prawns, 2 kg of crabs and 1 kg of squids.

I cooked the snapper with bird chillies in coconut cream (as in masak lemak), the siakap and bawal were fried and later bathed in sweet and sour sauce. The squids were stuffed with prawn balls and cooked in curry and the crabs were boiled in shallow water before being added to the sweet and sour chilli sauce.I did not fry the crabs as time was running out. I had only slightly more than 2 hours to prepare all the dishes with the help of 3 volunteers.

I improvised the stuffed squids by stuffing with the prawn balls as that was the only thing suitable that I found in the fridge at the time. It was supposed to be stuffed with potatoes but the ones I found were already past its expiry date.

The crabs were prepared as follows:

Ingredients

2kg crabs 1 cup tapioca flour mixed with cornflour 3 cloves garlic, minced 10 shallots, chopped 2.5 cm ginger, crushed 2 stalks lemongrass, crushed 3-4 tbsp oil 10 red chillies, seeded 5 dried chillies, soaked 2 cups water Seasoning 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp chilli sauce 2 tbsp tomato sauce 1 tbsp vinegar 1 tbsp ikan bilis stock granules Method Clean crabs and remove the top shell and crack the pinces. Trim the legs and cut the crabs into halves. Toss the crabs and put in a saucepan. Add a little water so as to cover 1/3 of the pot. Cook the crabs for 10 minutes or until they turn red and strain. Blend red and dried chillies together until fine. Heat oil in a wok and fry shallots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass until fragrant. Add blended chillies and combined seasoning. Fry for a while until aromatic. Pour in water and bring to a simmering boil. Add the crabs and continue to fry until well coated with the sauce and the gravy is thick. Dish out and serve immediately.You may sprinkle with slices of Chinese celery (daun sup) and lace the plate with lettuce and sliced cucumber before putting in the crabs.

I did not have the time to take the photos of all the dishes. The setting of the table and the decorations of the plates were done by someone else.

Next time if ever I get the opportunity for prepare for such a feast I hope I would be told earlier so as I could be better prepared with the ingredients and plan the right recipes.

The general food prepared for the general invitees to the wedding were: nasi hujan panas ( I didn't see how it was prepared), fried chicken, dalca (with leftover chicken pieces, young bananas, carrots, and other vegetables),pajri nenas (pineapple in sweet curry) and beef in chillies and soya sauce). The latter was nicknamed Congo beef.

Overall the food at the wedding was sumptuous, thanks to the concerted efforts of everyone concerned. I am proud to say that in this village the traditional spirit of gotong royong ( cooperation among the villagers) is still very much alive.