Cantonese Typhoon Shelter Crab

Ingredients

• 1.2–1.5 kg whole live crab, cleaned and jointed, shell cracked
• For the crispy garlic mountain
• 150 g garlic, finely chopped — the quantity is the signature; do not reduce
• For the aromatic base
• 2 tbsp black bean paste
• 4–6 dried red chillies, roughly broken
• 4 spring onions, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 500 ml neutral oil, for frying the garlic

Method

1. 1
   Pre-cook the crab: steam or fry the jointed crab pieces until just cooked through. Keep hot — cold crab at the assembly stage will dull the final dish and prevent the aromatics from adhering.
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan to 160 °C — no higher. Fry the chopped garlic in batches, stirring constantly, until every piece reaches a uniform golden brown. This is where the dish lives or dies: pale garlic is raw-tasting; burnt garlic renders the entire dish bitter and unrecoverable. Drain the garlic on paper and reserve the oil.
3. 3
   Discard most of the frying oil, leaving a thin film in the wok. Over high heat, add the broken dried chillies and the black bean paste. Stir-fry briefly — 30 to 60 seconds — until the paste darkens slightly and the chillies release their fragrance. The smell should be deeply savoury and aromatic, not acrid.
4. 4
   Add the hot pre-cooked crab to the wok. Toss rapidly over high heat to coat every piece in the aromatic base. The assembly is fast — its purpose is coating, not further cooking. Add the spring onion lengths and toss once more until they are just wilted.
5. 5
   Remove from heat. Pile the crispy fried garlic over the crab in an abundant mound — the mountain of golden garlic is the dish's defining visual and textural signature. Serve immediately, before the garlic softens.