Sweet And Sour Chili crabs

Soak the dried chili in hot water until soft. Remove the seeds and cut the dried chili into small chunks.

Soak the dried shrimps until soft and drain. Slice the ginger. Cut the shallots and garlic into small chunks.

Remove the seeds of the fresh chilies and cut into chunks. Toast the belacan (shrimp paste) in a skillet at low heat until fragrant.

Combine all the sambal ingredients in a food processor, blend with little water till a fine paste.

Heat the cooking oil in a wok, add the blended chili paste into the oil, sauté till aromatic.

Take the crab's carapace off. Wash, scrub, and remove the top shell and the lungs. Cut the crabs in half. Save the female top shell with the yellow crab roe inside. Keep chilled until ready to use.

Combine the tomato sauce, chili sauce, THAI sweet chili sauce, and soya bean paste in a small bowl, mix well.

In a wok, heat the oil to medium-high temperature. Add in the sambal paste and cook until aromatic. Add in the sauce ingredients from step 2.

Add in the crabs and toss well until coated with the sauce. Pour in one cup of water and the top shell containing yellow crab roe. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes until the crab is red and cooked.

Remove the top shell. Stir to ensure all crabs are coated with sauce. Transfer the crabs to a serving plate. Place the top shell on top of the crabs pieces. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!