Lasagna, enchiladas, crepes – oh my. I love creating and eating classic dishes from other countries, but to be honest, I’ve never ventured far past the “usual suspects…” until now.
Here is my entry for Challenge #2 of Project Food Blog – my twist on a classic ethnic dish.
BFF Lauren recently moved from Philadelphia to Singapore for work. Having my best friend on the other side of the globe is hard, but thanks to G-Chat and Skype, we’ve managed to keep in touch as well as before.
Lauren says that the financial district of Singapore is super exciting. She works crazy hours, but she does manage to get out and explore the area with her co-workers (many are Americans, too).
I asked Lauren what exactly she eats in Singapore, and she mentioned that one of the most popular dishes is Crab Chili. Crab Chili is everywhere in various forms – as a dip with fried potatoes, served over rice, slopped on gooey white bread.
Lauren tried this Crab Chili dip at the bar and said it was pretty epic.
Her experiences with Crab Chili made me curious to try making my own (vegetarian) version of this classic Singapore dish.
It’s spicy, and it’s savory. The flavors are complex and unique. If you love Asian food, I promise you’ll like this twist on Crab Chili.
Singapore’s Crab Chili (Vegetarian-style)
Ingredients (makes 3 servings of dip):
- 3 white potatoes
- Olive oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons green chilies
- 1.5 tablespoons garlic
- 1/4 cup black beans with sauce
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes in sauce
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Sprinkle of freeze-dried cilantro
Directions:
- Wash potatoes and stab with a fork. Wrap in wet paper towels and microwave for 3 – 4 minutes to soften.
- Meanwhile, heat enough olive oil to fry the potatoes in a medium saucepan. In a separate wok, heat the sesame oil.
- Remove potatoes from microwave and slice into thick chunks. Drop into hot olive and fry. Put on low heat.
- Turn wok to medium heat so the oil is not smoking. Add ginger, green chilies, and garlic. (Chop ginger so it’s much finer than the picture below!)
- When ginger begins to brown, add black beans with sauce, white wine vinegar, diced tomatoes in sauce, red curry paste, brown sugar, and soy sauce.
- Cook for ten minutes.
- Meanwhile, flip fries once and add salt.
- Beat eggs in a small bowl and add to chili mix. Cook without stirring for 2 minutes, stir, and then cook for another 2 minutes.
- Plate fries and chili dip. Sprinkle with cilantro.
- Serve and enjoy.
This was SUCH an amazing and flavorful dip. It was a little heavy, of course, and would be wonderful with an Asian-inspired salad for an entree.
Thanks to everyone who voted me through Round 1 of Project Food Blog. Voting for Round 2 – which specifies that bloggers should create their own twist on an ethnic classic – begins tomorrow evening. I’ll be sure to post the link!
What is your favorite ethnic dish?
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{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks really good! So, the black beans are what give it substance? My favorite ethnic dish is falafel! Yum, yum.
i love it! brilliant
Amazing recipe, I’ll definitely make this!
Hm…spanakopita I guess. Or maybe lasagna. Or germknoedel. Bretzel. Czech cabbage with dumplings…
I adore all kinds of ethcnic dishes
Holy yum. Is it sad that the only ethnic dish I can think of is sweet and sour thai tofu??
When I was at FitBloggin’ I really enjoyed Lebonese food but I can ‘t remember the name of any of it. I just know that it was fried and had a yogurty dressing for dipping!
How inventive, Caitlin! Gosh, I grew up around Italian food, so I love that, but I love Mexican food, vegetarian sushi, Indian….I think I like ethnic food better than American food, usually!
Looks delicious. I’ll be sure to vote for you.
This is great Caitlin. When you said crab chili I was wondering how you would vegetarianize it? But it looks great! A must try.
My favorite is actually spanish paella. I had great versions in Spain but just had a vegan version in NYC and loved it!
Awesome recipe!! You get my vote
I don’t really know any ethnic dishes..I mean, I probably do – I just haven’t a clue where they come from!
Looks so good! Success!
Gotta love tamales! Probably my favorite ethnic dish ever.
What an epic dish! I love the idea of having the fries for dipping!!!!! Favorite ethnic dish…hmmm….I like greek style bowls with lots of feta, chickpeas & grain mixtures
That dish looks so flavorful and delicious – YUM! My favorite ethnic dish would have to be enchiladas. I have a special place in my heart for mexican cuisine
That looks seriously good! I am so going to make this soon!
Favourite ethnic dish – Aloo Gobi (Indian food). Great post Caitlin!
Crab Chili sounds amazing! You did a wonderful job recreating this signature dish.
this looks Amazing!! I love dishes with ginger…
very unique!!
Great recipe! I love Czech classic stuffed fruit dumplings.
Recipe: http://czechmatediary.com/2008/05/13/stuffed-fruit-dumplings/
Another recipes:
http://czechmatediary.com/tag/sweet-kitchen/
I’m a sucker for anything Japanese. Really love simple home-style things like a donburi, just a bowl of rice with awesome stuff on it. Half the stuff I make at home is either Japanese or some other asian style. Having salmon and avocado donburi tonight for dinner in fact!
That looks delicious! I LOVE mediterranean flavors! Pretty much anything from that area!
I love dips. Ethnic? Hmmmm – I love Hummus, so maybe Greek?
Or wait – can we just say Italian is Ethnic and call it a day? PIZZA right?
Sounds so good! I love spicy food
My favorite ethnic dishes are probably baigan bharta, pizza margherita and sashimi!
Great post! I thought “Crab Chili” meant real crab meat in the dip! I am not a big seafood person, but I noticed there was no crab meat under the ingredient list! woohoo!!! Now, I’m going to bookmark this recipe!
I find it so interesting how people from different parts of the world eat so differently! GL with the contest!
Just a few weeks ago on ‘Top Chef: Washington DC’ they went to Singapore and kept raving about the crab chili! I thought it sounded delicious but didn’t know when I’d get around to visiting Singapore. And here you have a super easy recipe to try it! You’re so awesome Caitlin, thank you!
http://www.bishella.blogspot.com
That looks so good!
This looks amazing! Good luck!
That looks delicious! Never even thought about Singapore cuisine before, but now I want to try it for sure.
How interesting!! I remember this dish on Top Chef recently- it was everyone’s favorite! Great post! You’ve got my vote!
It looks so good!
This looks awesome! Good luck!
Hey, that looks kinda good.
Now I’m kinda in the mood for Asian food… 
Good luck!
Just have to throw this out there: my family totally has those same blueish/white patterned dishes! I love them.
Anything Thai…Pad Thai, Green Curry, Pad Sew…Yum!!!!
CAITLIN!!! THis looks amazing – I loove anything that remotely resembles chili, so I am all over this!
Singaporean cuisine is grand! They have bean curd dumplings there that I am OBSESSED with that I can’t find or recreate at home!
This dish looks awesome!! What an amazing looking re-create and I love that it’s vegetarian
This past season of Top Chef held its finale episodes in Singapore and highlighted the cuisine there–it looked pretty amazing. As a vegetarian, I’ll have to try your version, to get as close to Crab Chili as I can! Thanks for sharing
This dish looks awesome! I especially like the potato wedges for dipping. What are black beans with sauce?
My favorite ethnic dish is Thai Green Curry. SO GOOD!
just the sauce the black beans come in – don’t drain them or anything!
This looks amazing…can’t wait to try it myself!
When does voting start?
tomorrow at 6 AM!
Oh tasty! I’ve never heard of crab chili but the veggie versions certainly looks amazing.
Haitian Griot with rice and beans, and plantains are AMAZING. I think I could possibly eat it everyday of my life if I had the option.
Interesting recipe! I had Chili Crab in Singapore but not Crab Chili.
Thanks for sharing. I love how you intro the posts with the cutting board.
Wow.. very creative!
Definitely post the link so I can vote for you. I love that this is so creative and flavorful sounding…but also true to your style – easy and realistic for most anyone to make. Including the culinary challenged like myself.
how interesting! this sounds really yummy. i love thai food!
I love that you eat it by dipping potatoes in it. Awesome!
My favourite ethnic dish is sushi!
Oh i LOVE chilli crab. My favourite ethnic dish would be Pad Krapow Moo (Thai) or Wonton Noodle Soup (Cantonese). mmmm.
Heidi xo
I bet this would be awesome spread in a sandwich or a wrap. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
I have been reading your blog for quite a while now and I did not expect my country to be featured in your entries!A shoutout here from a Singaporean reader!
This looks delicious! Spring rolls (I love them with peanut sauce) and Pad Thai are my favorite ethnic dishes.
Before being vegetarian, it was definitely sushi! It is the only thing that I thought I would have a hard time giving up and I actually don’t miss it that much (and avocado rolls are still good!)
Ethiopian food is my favorite, hands down. I love the spiced oil, and how conducive it is to veganism, with spiced oil!
that looks so good! i love when you vegetarian-ize dishes!
I looove ethnic food. Green thai curries, tandoori, Chinese dumplings, sushi, dolmathes and gyros, and those are the ones I can remember how to spell.
looks really goood
Oh my gosh, the entire page is edible…
Wow what a creative spin! I love that the vegetarian version looks heartier and more beautiful than the original version.
I love Pad Thai or sushi. I would love to learn how to make my own sushi rolls! But maybe that’s a dangerous idea…I already want to eat it all the time.
Wow, that looks really good! I’m especially excited that it is vegetarian.
Way to stay true to YOU and rock it out veggie style.
~Missy
Caitlin your recipe is so original and lovely! I saw a few people who did the challenge by using a recipe and following it instead of making it their own. I love what you did with this dish!
Hi Caitlin. I am from Malaysia and i’ve been reading ur blog for quite some time. U motivates me alot!
Nway, since our country is a neighbour to Singapore, ask ur BFF to try fish head curry or “murtabak singapura”.
Cheers!
Hi!!
Thanks for reading!
The dip sounds great! My favourite ethnic dish is Korean Bee Bim Bop
Hey caitlin! I’m a regular reader from your blog and i’m from singapore too! We all love chilli crabs over here. =D Will try out your version someday!
Hi!!!
Crab chili….what a neat idea! I think I would like your version as well as the Singapore version!!
I’ve been kicking around the idea of visiting Singapore–you cemented that I *need* to go, just for the food!
At school lunch here, we get shrimp chili. It’s awesome. Pains me to remember school lunch in the US…
Wonderful job! For the ginger, I usually use a vegetable peeler and then mince up the shavings. Hopefully that helps
Thank you for sharing this dish. I’ve never been to Singapore but I hear there are some super foodies over there! You got my vote 
i love this recipe! voted!! im so glad i didnt miss the voting!
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