One of the first restaurants that we went to after we moved was a place over on Clement called Fountain Court. And one of our favorite dishes was Singapore style chili crab. Sadly, they closed down to relocate shortly after our visit and from what I can tell never reopened. So we were chili crab deficient for quite some time. When finally we couldn’t take it anymore I looked up potential recipes to see just how difficult chili crab could be.

As it turned out, not that hard once you had the crab. And chili crab is a pretty messy dish which is best enjoyed in an atmosphere without white table clothes or company concerned with manners. Cooking at home has its advantages in this case.

It took awhile to work out the kinks such as how strong of a constitution did we really have since you have to cook the crab in the sauce, not add cooked crab too it. That means you have to either clean it live and toss it into the pan, which I have a hard time with because the parts don’t stop moving for some time after it’s been dismantled or knock it out in the freezer, par-boil it until it’s dead, take it out, clean it, chop it up and then add it to the sauce. I chose the latter because, I don’t know about you, but I find it very unsettling to have your food snap at your wooden spoon which sautéing.

Anyway, one Sunday we had some free time so we went in search of crab to chili-fy. If we were feeling more ambitious we probably would have drove down to go to Half Moon Bay and buy them off the boat from the fishermen. But we were lazy and we only wanted one crab so it seemed easier just to go the Ferry Building and get a big one to share.

Outside the Ferry Building

Near the Ferry Building there are two gigantic metal sculptures of what I’m guessing to be mother and child. I think they’re supposed to be welcoming but they’re just terrifying. They’re by a sculpture who does a lot with Burning Man, so enough said about that.

There’s big concrete banks along the way which are perfect for skateboarding so the city put up these metal deterrents and they’re pretty awesome.

Anyway, the crab.

So we go into the Ferry Building and up to the place where they have the tanks of crab and asked the fish guy to pack us up a live one about 2 lbs or more. I wasn’t really thinking much about it but I guess that type of request is tres exotic for those visiting the city.

There was a family with two little boys checking out the tanks and they about lost their minds when the saw the fish guy grab a big crab and plunk it feet up in a big metal bowl. He let the kids look at it for awhile then wrapped it up for us.

As we were leaving a couple drinking wine asked us if that crab was still alive and we said yes and they asked if we were going to eat it and we said yes and they looked just stunned. People, at some point someone is going to have to kill the animal that you intend on eating if you eat animals. It’s just whether you have to do it yourself or not. Also do not pity the crab, if the tables were turned he would be eating your face off without mercy.

When you buy crab off the docks no one questions your motives, I can tell you that.

So we took it home and cooked it. And it was delicious. Although I still have a pound of tamarind paste in the refrigerator, enough to make a million chili crab dishes. I wonder how long it keeps.

2-3 lbs Dungeness crabs
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons hot chili paste
2 tablespoons oyster sauce or Indonesian soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce or regular soy sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
3 tablespoons peanut oil
4 scallions, sliced thin
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano chile, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish

In a bowl mix the ketchup, chili paste, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and tamarind paste; thin it with 1/4 cup water and set aside. Pour the oil into a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the scallion, ginger, garlic, 1/2 the chile, and cilantro and cook for 1 minute. Add the crab and stir-fry for another minute. Pour in the sauce and continue cooking, stirring often, until the crab has absorbed the sauce and the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.