ST: Chilli crab was created in Singapore

Sep 19, 2009

Chilli crab was created in Singapore

When Madam Cher Yam Tian heard yesterday morning that Malaysia was trying to lay claim on chilli crab, she got angry. The 78-year-old said she created the dish in her kitchen in 1950, adding bottled chilli sauce to her crabs stir-fried with bottled tomato sauce. The dish was so well-loved by everyone in her kampung that she started a small pushcart business the same year to sell it. She even came up with the idea of serving the dish with baguette so customers could mop up the spicy gravy. Business grew and she eventually opened a stall six years later in Upper East Coast Road. In 1963, her family opened a restaurant at 514 Upper East Coast Road called Palm Beach, to reflect its beach front, palm-dotted location. The family sold the restaurant in 1984. In 2000, Madam Cher's son, Mr Roland Lim, now 52, opened Roland Restaurant in Marine Parade, selling seafood and chilli crab using her recipes. The friendly retiree told Life! in Teochew: 'I love cooking and would always try new ways of cooking a dish. When my husband suggested adding chilli sauce to my crabs with tomato sauce, I did it and the dish turned out to be delicious. 'Everyone in Singapore knows that I was the one who created the dish, and I've been using this recipe for the past 50 to 60 years. I am angry but I am going to ignore what the Malaysian tourism minister said.' In the 1960s, Singapore chef Hooi Kok Wai, who started Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, re-invented the dish. Instead of using bottled chilli and tomato sauce, he used lemon juice, vinegar, sambal and tomato paste in his gravy. He also topped the dish with egg white, to give it a smoother texture. However, no matter whose version of the dish is more popular today, there is no doubt that it originated in Singapore. Chef Hooi said: 'I am a little surprised to hear about this issue. The words 'chilli crab' are generic and it is very difficult to lay claim to a dish as it is prepared differently everywhere.' Madam Cher said: 'We will let Malaysia's tourism minister say what she wants. As long as deep in our hearts, we know that chilli crab originated in Singapore, that is good enough.' Jocelyn Lee

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