Sri Lankan Chilli Crab

We sat down with Chef Priyantha of Soneva Jani to talk about Sri Lankan cuisine and his amazing family-inspired recipes. Today we are happy to share one of his delicious recipes – chili crab – which you can enjoy at Soneva Jani, a luxurious resort in the Maldives, where Chef Priyantha serves as the Head Chef of the Crab Shack restaurant.

Chef Priyantha grew up on a diet of lagoon crabs in Sri Lanka and now serves a menu inspired by the family recipes of Soneva chefs. The trick with chili crab is to make a reduction using whole chilies, says Chef Priyantha. Then you get the incredible warmth throughout the whole dish.

Enjoy!

Sri Lankan Chilli Crab

Chef Priyantha

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 live mud crab
• 2 tbsp red onion
• 1 tbsp garlic cloves
• 1-1 ½ tbsp chili flakes
• 200 ml chilli stock
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
• 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp corn flour

The chili stock:

• 100 g whole dried red chilies
• 2 liter water

For serving:

• spring onions
• french bread

Instructions

 

For the chili stock:

• Bring water to boil with the dried chili.
• Reduce to 1 liter (4 ¼ cups).
• Set aside.
• When cooled and infused sufficiently, strain and keep as mise en place.

Instructions for chili crab:

• In a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil sauté 2 tbsp of onion and 1 tbsp of garlic.
• When the onion and garlic start to become translucent, add in the chili flakes.
• Add in the crabs and wok-fry for approximately two minutes.
• Pour in the 200 ml (1 cup) chili stock mixture and cook with the crabs for approximately 2-3minutes till the crab is cooked.
• Season with the oyster sauce, sweet Thai chili sauce, and chili garlic sauce.
• Add in the corn flour (mixed with water) to thicken the sauce.
• Decorate with some chopped spring onion as garnish on the top.
• Serve with French bread (for dipping in the sauce).

Notes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Chef Priyantha

Priyantha is the head chef at The Crab Shack at Soneva Jani, recently voted the world’s most romantic restaurant by CNN Travel. He grew up on a diet of lagoon crabs in Sri Lanka and now serves crab dishes inspired by the family recipes of Soneva’s chefs. The Crab Shack’s signature dishes include the must-try black pepper crab, dishes featuring Sri Lankan mud, Alaskan and Kamchatka crabs (all Marine Stewardship Council certified), Mediterranean favourites and the ceviche of the day. Each dish on the menu comes with a carefully paired wine, Champagne, gin or lager.