Malaysian Style Chilli Crabs

This is my first time cooking crabs!

Yup, I finally found the courage to cook crabs after a few years of gathering courage to do so.

I love eating crabs and have always wanted to cook crabs myself, but I was afraid that cleaning the raw crabs would be a very difficult task to do. That was why I had put off the idea of cooking crabs for so many years.

Last week, I finally plucked up the courage and told myself that it is now or never to cook crabs or I’ll never do it. So off I went to order some crabs for dinner.

I was not able to get any of my friends to teach me how to clean the raw crabs, but thanks to You Tube, nothing is impossible! After watching a few You Tube videos on how to clean raw crabs, I finally learnt how to clean the raw crabs. Cleaning the raw crabs are surprisingly easier that what I thought it would be! All you need to do is cut the crabs into portions and clean off the gills and other unwanted bits off the crabs.

Finding the recipe for cooking the crabs was very easy too. I got this recipe from one of my favourite food blogs called www.rasamalaysia.com. I followed the recipe with some minor modifications and found that the sauce was too watery, so I added more cornstarch/corn flour to it. The recipe was good and the end result was absolutely divine.

Here’s the recipe with some of my modifications:

Malaysian Style Chilli Crabs 

Malaysian Style Chilli Crabs

Ingredients: 

4 raw blue swimmer crabs
3 tbsp oil 3 garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, sliced
3 tbsp cornstarch/corn flour (mixed with some water)
1 egg, beaten
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Sour and Spicy Sauce 

5 tbsp tomato sauce
5 tbsp Lingham’s Chilli Sauce
1 heap tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp Chinese Rice Wine
½ tsp white vinegar
1 cup water

Method: 

Refer to You Tube videos to learn how to clean the raw crabs.

Mix the ingredients for the Sour and Spicy Sauce in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat up wok with oil until hot. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry until slightly browned. Add the crabs and fry for about 10 seconds. Add the Sour and Spicy Sauce and stir the sauce together with the crabs. Cover the wok lid and boil on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the crab is cooked.

Uncover the wok and add in the cornstarch/corn flour mixture into the sauce. Stir until sauce thickens. Add beaten egg and swirl it around the sauce. Cook for about 30 more seconds and add salt, sugar and more cornstarch mixture if needed.

Serve with rice, steamed buns or fried Chinese buns.


Cheers,

Caroline Poh

The Best Chinese Roast Duck and Roast Pork in Adelaide

My visit to Adelaide is incomplete without a visit to my favourite Chinese roast duck and roast pork restaurant. To me, Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant serves the best Chinese roast duck and roast pork in Adelaide.

The restaurant is situated in Chinatown, near the Adelaide Central Market. You can easily recognise the restaurant by looking out for the roast pork and roast ducks hanging outside the shop’s side window. The restaurant’s interior is not very posh. Hence, the prices of the meals there are very reasonable. My husband and I can get a meal for roughly $10 which can be shared between the two of us because of its large portions. Imagine having a complete Chinese meal of meat, vegetables and rice for two people at around $10…That’s only $5 per person!

When you order the Chinese roast duck and roast pork in Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant, you can choose to have your roast duck and roast pork served with rice. You can also choose to takeaway the roast duck and roast pork and cook your own rice at home.

My husband and I will usually order the two combination meat (roast duck and roast pork) or the (roast pork and BBQ pork) since my husband loves their BBQ pork. If we are doing our grocery shopping in Chinatown and have no time to get home to cook the rice, we would order the combination meat and rice. If we are not in a hurry to eat straight away, we would normally takeaway the meat and cook the rice ourselves. By cooking the rice ourselves, we get to save money on our food expenses.

We introduced many of our friends and family members to the roast duck and roast pork at Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant. They were all very happy with the roast duck and roast pork that were served there.

Besides the roast duck and roast pork, Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant also serves other delicious ala-carte meals such as sweet and sour pork with rice; roast pork and beancurd in bean sauce with rice; battered fish and sweet corn sauce with rice; and salt and pepper whitebait with rice. Most of the dishes we ate there were really delicious.

No matter how many roast ducks and roast pork I ate at various restaurants in Adelaide, to me, Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant still serves the best Chinese roast duck and roast pork in Adelaide. Try it and you’ll love it!

The roast duck I ate at Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant, Adelaide

If you are interested to dine at Hong Fat BBQ Restaurant, below are the contact details:

3/75 Grote St Adelaide SA 5000
(08) 8410 0908

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Rundle Spices, Adelaide, South Australia

Whenever I am in Adelaide, South Australia, I always look forward to dining at Rundle Spices. Rundle Spices is Chinese/Malaysian/Thai influenced restaurant serving a wide variety of dishes from finger food to main course meals.

The restaurant is situated at Rundle Street, just minutes away from Adelaide’s famous Rundle Mall shopping centre. The restaurant is opened for lunch and for dinner. If you want to get better value for your money, I would recommend you to go there during lunch time as they would have set lunch menus on offer at a fraction of the price as compared to if you were to dine there for dinner.

Although there are many dishes to choose from at Rundle Spices, Adelaide, my husband and I would always order their Thai fried rice and fried spring rolls as those dishes give us the best value for our money. As the Thai fried rice comes in a huge serving portion, we are able to share one plate of fried rice and just order a plate of fried spring rolls for our side dish.

We have been to Rundle Spices, Adelaide, South Australia many times and we were never disappointed. Their food tastes very authentic, their waitresses are very polite and helpful; and they always give us very fast service. The interior of the restaurant is also very pleasant and the chairs there are really comfortable.

Thai Fried Rice

Fried Spring Rolls

I highly recommend you to dine at Rundle Spices, Adelaide, South Australia simply because it is a really nice restaurant with great tasting food and wide variety of dishes to choose from. Try it and you’ll be back for more food from Rundle Spices!

Here is the address of Rundle Spices:

278A Rundle St Adelaide SA 5000
(08) 8232 9288


Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Houseboats in Riverland,South Australia

Have you ever been on a houseboat?

When my husband and I first moved to the Riverland, South Australia, we were brought by a friend to see the houseboats at Kingston on Murray, Riverland, South Australia. According to her, houseboats in Riverland, South Australia are one of the attractions of the Riverland. That was the first time I had ever seen houseboats.

During our trip to see the houseboats at Kingston on Murray, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the houseboats because I was so fascinated by their unique structures and superior exterior. Back then, my husband and I were not able to view the interior of the houseboats because we were told that we had to hire a houseboat to be able to do so. Since that day, I always had a deep curiosity on what it would feel like living on a houseboat.

After a few months living in the Riverland, our friend from church invited us to her house for lunch one day. Her house was situated in Lyrup, Riverland, South Australia. It was quite a long drive (about 20 minutes) from our place at Barmera, Riverland, South Australia.

Her house was situated amidst bushlands near the Lyrup Forest. When we pulled over the car at her house compound, we got out of the car wondering where her house was. All we could see were some wild bushes and nice pot plants around her compound. Our friend happily greeted us upon our arrival and showed us to her house. When she showed us to her place, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she actually lives on a houseboat! I was so excited.

The interior of her houseboat looked like a normal two bedroom unit. It was fully equipped with a small wood fire heater, an air conditioner, a fairly big flat screen television, a modern kitchen and a deck at the back of her houseboat.

During our visit, we enjoyed our lunch at the deck overlooking the magnificent Murray River. While having our lunch, our friend shared with us about her experience living on a houseboat. According to her, she gets her electricity supply from her solar power system, collects rain water for her water supply and uses the generator if she does not get enough electricity supply from her solar power system. As she is unable to have a landline, uses the mobile broadband for her internet and she subscribes to a mobile telephone provider. She also has to pay special rates to the government to park her houseboat by the river as it is of public property.

On a separate occasion, when my sister came down to the Riverland for holiday, our friend invited my sister, my husband and I for dinner at her houseboat. This time, she took us along a cruise on her boat along the Murray River.

It was a very relaxing outing as we enjoyed looking at the tranquil water and natural surroundings. Seeing the sunset, watching the wild birds and ducks go by was very therapeutic for me. Combined with the light and easy music, lovely Aussie barbecue dinner prepared by our friend and beautiful ambience, I was able to relax and unwind easily during the river cruise. I would have to say that the river cruise was a really amazing and memorable experience for me.

Houseboats at Kingston on Murray, Riverland, South Australia

From left: Me, my sister, our friend and my husband outside our friend's houseboat

The spectacular view from our friend’s houseboat during our river cruise

With my wonderful experience at the houseboat, I would highly recommend anyone to view the houseboats in Riverland, South Australia. You can hire a houseboat for your next holiday vacation at Riverland, South Australia. It costs quite a lot but it is worth the experience if you have the money. If not, you can just take a picture outside the houseboats, like what I did when I went to Kingston on Murray, Riverland, South Australia.

Whatever the case, you will surely enjoy viewing the houseboats in Riverland, South Australia.

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

The Best Hot Chips in Riverland, South Australia

I seriously have not heard of anyone who does not go crazy over good hot chips. 

We can eat hot chips with so many different sauces and seasonings. You can have them with plain salt, chicken salt, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, rich brown gravy or black pepper sauce. My husband and I absolutely love eating hot chips. We like our hot chips to be served with chicken salt and a generous dollop of sweet or hot chilli sauce. 

When our favourite local deli closed down one day, my husband and I were very upset. It is very easy to buy hot chips anywhere in Australia, but it is very hard to find the best hot chips in Riverland, South Australia. Some hot chips we bought elsewhere were just lacking in the right amount of seasoning and crunch. Some were even too soggy for us to savour. The local deli that closed down had been the best hot chips that we have ever tasted in Riverland, South Australia. 

After hearing news that the deli was closing down, we shared with our friends from another town about our disappointment that we would not be able to buy good hot chips anymore. Our friends suggested that we try getting the hot chips from the Caltex petrol kiosk in Berri, Riverland, South Australia. Berri is a small town situated about 15 minutes drive away from where we live. 

We initially had difficulty finding the place as it is in quite a secluded area at the outskirts of Berri town. However, after getting directions from a friend who goes there to get her hot chips, my husband and I finally found the place. 

When we ordered our hot chips, we were asked whether we wanted a small, medium or large packet of chips. There were sample packets at the counter to show us roughly how big the packets were. We decided to get the medium packet because we felt that it was the right amount of chips for both of us to snack on for tea time. 

We waited for quite long time for the chips. When we finally got our chips, we were surprised when the staff handed to us a huge packet of chips instead of the medium packet of chips that we initially thought we were going to get. That ‘medium’ packet that we ordered had enough chips to last us for a snack, a dinner and a supper! 

The best hot chips in Riverland, South Australia

The chips were absolutely fantastic…with the right amount of crunch and chicken salt. I guess I just found my favourite hot chip shop in Riverland, South Australia. I shall crown these hot chips as the best hot chips in Riverland, South Australia…until I find another shop that sells better hot chips than this one. 

Got your favourite hot chips experience?
 

Cheers,

Caroline Poh