Definitely made in Singapore: Chilli Crab

Posted by noelbynature under Food
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The furore over the origins of food between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia seems to have died down, but just in case anyone has doubts over the pedigree of Singapore’s Chilli Crab, ieatishootipost goes right to the source of our flagship dish.

straight from the source, ieatishootipost recounts the origins of the Singapore Chilli Crab:

I met with the lovely Madam Cher Yam Tian recently following the controversial claims made by the Malaysian Tourism Minister. I wanted to meet the lady who invented the Chilli Crabs way back in the 1950’s. At the time, she and her husband were living in an Attap House along Upper East Coast Road. Those were the days before there was the ECP and so East Coast Road was really East “COAST” road. Her husband, Mr Lim, who used to be a policeman (yes he wore shorts then), would catch crabs from the beach and bring them home for dinner. Being Teochew, they would simply steam their crabs and eat them plain. But one day Constable Lim asked his wife if she could do something a little different. That was when she stir fried the crabs in tomato sauce. Mr Lim thought the taste was good except that it was a little too sweet and suggested she add some chilli into the sauce as well. This was to be the beginning a Singaporean institution. She started serving her chilli crabs to her friends and family and soon everyone was telling her that she should start selling her Chilli Crabs. So in 1950, she started selling her Chilli Crabs from a pushcart along the road.

And there you have the beginnings of a national dish. Read the full story on ieatishootipost.