Chilli Crab is one of our Singapore’s most iconic local National dishes. Favourite places to savour the dish include Jumbo Seafood, Mellben Seafood, No Signboard Seafood, Roland, and Tunglok Seafood (Orchard Central)
Other than the crab itself, the chilli crab sauce is also a star – all gooey with egg, spicy and sweet, loaded with chilli and ketchup.
You can now find the Chilli Crab sauce in or on all kinds of food from fries, burgers, tendon, pizza, prata, chicken wings, Xiao Long Bao, fish and chips. Even as chilli crab risotto and ice cream. (Note: most of these sauces don’t actually have crab inside.)
Here are 16 Unique Chilli Crab Food that can be found in Singapore:
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Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Holland Avenue 241 Singapore 278976 (Holland Village MRT)
Tel: +65 6463 0968
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10:30pm (Mon – Fri)
10:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10:30pm (Sat – Sun)
Chilli Crab Xiao Long Bao .
Crystal Jade’s red coloured Steamed Chilli Crab Xiao Long Bao 辣椒蟹小笼包 ($13.80 for 6 pieces, $22.80 for 10 pieces) have made a return.
You must eat these while they are hot – to savour the sweet, delicately spicy broth which did remind me of the chilli crab gravy (though in a much lighter way), matched with generous fillings of crab meat sitting within thin, skill-fully pleated skin.
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Nipong Naepong – 313@somerset
313@somerset #B3-03, 313 Orchard Road Singapore 238895 (Somerset MRT)
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm Last order 9.30pm (Mon – Fri); 11am – 11pm, Last order 10.30pm (Sat – Sun)
Singapore Chilli Crab She’s Risotto
What it is: Inspired by the Singapore chilli crab, the She’s Risotto ($14.80) features al dente rice in a sweet-and-spicy sauce, topped with slices of battered fried onion and a deep-fried soft-shell crab.
After tasting: My table of friends were quite divided on this. We all really enjoyed the crispy soft-shell crab and onions, like light tempura pieces not overly oily.
As we are all familiar with the Chilli Crab dish, we came with certain expectations on how it should taste like. It turned out to be more sweet than spicy, which some thought was rather refreshing and interesting – because it was something we never had before.
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Menya Musashi
Chinatown Point #02-43/44 133 New Bridge Road
Tel: +65 6244 0081
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
Founded in Tokyo in 1996, Menya Musashi is one of the most popular ramen shops credited as the pioneer of a new ramen culture in Japan. It is named after the legendary Edo-era samurai Miyamoto Musashi, who was famed for his distinctive “double sword style”.
What makes its ramen special is their broth that uniquely combines chicken, pork and bonito then slowly boiled and stirred intermittently for 9 hours.
They have launched a Singapore-exclusive Chilli Crab Ramen topped with soft-shell crab tempura poured over with sweet and slightly spicy sauce.
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Arteastiq – Mandarin Gallery
Mandarin Gallery, #04-14/15 333A Orchard Road, Singapore 238867 (Somerset MRT)
Tel: +65 6235 8370 (Teahouse)
+65 6235 8705 (Art Jam)
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Fri), 10am – 10pm (Sat – Sun)
Chilli Egg Prawn Fettuccine
From the Asian Delights section of Arteastiq, try the Chilli Egg Prawn Fettuccine ($20), a sweet-savoury pasta (the sauce is a blend of tomatoes, chili sauce, lemongrass, eggs, dried shrimp, garlic, onions and ginger) served with pan-seared Cajun prawns and mantou bun.
This is a take of the familiar local Chilli Crab with a twist, is not too spicy, and still retains the tangy-sweetness of the tomato base.
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Don Meijin 丼名人
Ramen Champion Bugis+, 201 Victoria Street, #04-10, Bugis+, Singapore 188067
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 10:30pm Daily
Chilli Crab Tendon
I think some diners, especially those who like heavier and saucier things on the palate, could appreciate the Spicy Chilli Crab Tendon ($14.80). Especially those who cannot stop drizzling sauces over their rice.
The chilli crab sauce was moderately spicy with that heavy ketchup aftertaste. Personal preference, but I would prefer a sauce which would be more egg-y.
As the sauce is so intense-tasting, the flipside is that it can distract from the flavours of the tempura pieces, such as the sweetness of the prawns and vegetables. Don Mejin (Bugist+)
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Pince & Pints
32-33 Duxton Road, Singapore 089497
Opening Hours: 12pm – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 10pm (Mon – Fri), 12pm – 10pm (Sat), Closed Sun
Chilli Lobster with Mantou
My dining companions did not like this dish as much, only because sauce was too rich and tinted to the sweet side, which ‘covered’ the taste of the lobster.
Plus, if you are comparing this to your local zhi char stalls, this Western-maybe-local dish lacked ‘wok hei’.
Still, I was still happily sweeping the bowl clean with the fried mantou. They gave a lot a lot of sauce.
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Wok In Burger
124 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-136 Singapore 150124 (within Keng Eng Kee Seafood)
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:00pm – 10:00pm (Mon – Sun)
Chilli Soft Shell Crab Burger
Wok In Burger is introduced with the novel idea of incorporating local zhi char dishes into Western style burgers.
The Chilli Soft Shell Crab Burger ($15) which comes with fries and Water Chestnut drink, was the recommended item.
Am not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but it came exactly how one would expect it to be like – deep fried soft shell crab drizzled with sweet, slightly spicy chilli crab sauce and sandwiched between burger buns.
A tad predictable, less surprises, but at least almost all the components ticked all the right boxes.
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The Workbench Bistro
Blk 332 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 #01-1881 Singapore 560332
Tel: +65 6452 0810
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm (Mon – Thurs), 12pm – 11pm (Fri), 10am – 11pm (Sat), 10am – 10pm (Sun)
Crab Meat Linguine
This is The Workbench Bistro’s best-selling main course ($15.90), and also tasted much better than the first time I tried it.
The sauce had a lighter creamy tomato base flavour, added with some white wine for a more layered taste. (Some may prefer a more robust feel of the tomatoes.)
The café was also not stingy with their addition of ingredients.
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Arbora Hilltop Dining
Faber Peak Singapore, 109 Mount Faber Road, Singapore 099203 (Level 2)
Opening Hours: 11am – 11pm, Last Order 10pm (Mon – Sun)
Chilli Crab Potato Skins
Singapore’s favourite chili crab comes in a different variant in this dish. If you have been a regular to Spuds & Aprons, you will definitely remember this starter of “Chilli Crab in a Tux” ($14++) which makes its return – due to popular demand.
These Chili Crab Potato Skins are deep fried to a crisp and served with the popular Singapore Chilli Crab gravy, adding texture and crunch to each bite.
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Red House Seafood
3C, River Valley Road, #01-02/03, #02-07/08, The Cannery, Singapore 179022
Tel: +65 6442 3112
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5pm – 10:30pm (Mon – Fri)
11am – 2:30pm, 5pm – 10:30pm (Sat, Sun & PH)
Takesumi Chilli Crab Bun
A beautiful contrast of black bamboo charcoal bun with red chilli crab fillings ($10 for 3 pieces).
I liked the exterior which was crispy and fluffy, almost like the texture of a Hong Kong style baked bun. Though I would have wished that the fillings were wetter with more sauce.
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Bao Makers
4 Jiak Chuan Road Singapore 089261
Tel: +65 6291 2330
Opening Hours: 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 10pm (Mon – Thurs), 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm (Fri – Sat), Closed Sun
Chilli Crab Bao
The best-seller here is the Chilli Crab Bao ($4.50 for one), with fleshy, succulent crab meat and generously splattered with chilli sauce, kiap-ed (sandwiched) in between the deep fried golden brown “bao”.
A alternative version to the usual practice of dipping the mantou into the chili crab gravy.
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Old Hen Kitchen
127 Owen Road, Singapore 218931
Opening Hours: 12pm – 9pm (Mon, Wed – Fri), 10am – 6.30pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Tue
Chilli Crab Fries
Side dishes such as Truffle Fries ($9) and Chilli Crab Fries ($12) were available, and the latter stood out more.
Topped with distinct chunks of crab meat with tze-char style chilli crab zhup (sauce), I could feel the spicy kick in each mouthful. Shiok!
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Orchid Live Seafood (Sembawang)
No.1 Bah Soon Pah Road Singapore 769959 (off Sembawang Road)
Tel: +65 6756 0311
Opening Hours: 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
Chili Prawn Toufu
This Chili Prawn Toufu ($30) contains gooey eggy sauce enveloped the deep fried beancurd, and should please those who loved to drizzle abundant sauces over rice.
I thought that the sauce base was very similar to the chilli crab style, except that it had a spicier quality and less of the tomato-sweetness one would typically expect.
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Two Wings
Timbre+ #01-30, 73A Ayer Rajah Crescent, JTC LaunchPad @ One-North, Singapore 139952
Tel: +65 9667 0368
Opening Hours: 11am – 11pm (Mon – Sat), Closed Sun
Chilli Crab Wings
Wings and Drums ($12.90 for 6 pieces) topped with chilli crab sauce. After the heritage and salted egg sauce, local wings stall Two Wings has gone for a chilli crab sauce over their crispy fried wings.
Not too bad an attempt. A semi-spicy sauce which I thought could have been eggier which could provide a more layered texture. By the way, did Two Wings half their portions (from initial days)?
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Fish & Chicks
Blk, 531 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, #01-2429 Happy Hawkers, 560531
Opening Hours: 11am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Chilli Crab Sauce Over Fish And Chips
I had the Best of Both Worlds ($13.90) which included Fish and Chips with Salted Egg and Chilli Crab Sauce and two sides including fries.
The chilli crab sauce, also little in proportion, was nondescript and quickly (and fatefully) turned the batter soggy. To lift up the taste, it really needed that ‘wok-fried’ character.
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Restaurant Labyrinth
8 Raffles Avenue #02-23 Esplanade Mall Singapore 039802
Tel: +65 6223 4098
Opening Hours: 12.00pm – 2.30pm, 6:30pm – 11pm (Tues – Fri), 6pm – 11pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Mon
Chilli Crab Ice Cream
Having the local hot signature dish of Chilli Crab in the form of a cold Ice Cream presented an excitement to my palate.
This dish has undergone a few renditions, currently presented as a dish called “Local Wild Caught Crab” which includes flower crab accompanied with a dollop of chilli crab ice cream.
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