Malaysian seafood curry recipe
This seafood curry includes softshell crab meat, mussels, cockles and baby octopus or squid, cooked in a range of Malaysian spices.
Ingredients
- 4 sprigs coriander
- 100 ml water
- 2 cups rice
- 1 lime
- 750 ml vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4 softshell crabs
- 12 baby octopus or baby squid
- 20 cockles
- 16 mussels
- 80 g Malaysian fish curry powder
- 1 l coconut milk (400ml for the rice)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 20 chantennay carrots, or 5 carrots cut into quaters
- 2 bird's eye chillis
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 shallots
- 1 tbsp sambal sauce
- 1 tsp Thai shrimp paste
Details
- Cuisine: Malaysian
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 25 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Cook the rice in the coconut milk, water, and salt in a covered pan on a low simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through. Chop the coriander and fold it into the rice.
- Ensure that the octopus or squid are clean. Toss them with vegetable oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then spread out on a baking tray. Grill under full heat for 5-6 minutes; they should be bright pinkish-purple, slightly firm and slightly charred.
- Chop the shallots into quarters and roughly chop the garlic and chillis. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan. Saute the shrimp paste, sambal, shallots, garlic, chillis, and carrots over a medium-high heat, until the shallots are soft and slightly brown. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 12 minutes, until the carrots are just starting to tenderise.
- If using mussels and cockles in the shells, scrub them of any grit and discard any open shells. Debeard the mussels. In a separate pan, boil about 200 ml water. Add the mussels and cockles and put a lid on the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until all the shells have opened. Strain the liquid into the curry pot, and pick the meat from the shells. Add the picked meat to the curry and cook for no more than 1 minute. Discard the shells.
- If using frozen or picked mussels and cockles, add them directly to the curry and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until just warmed through.
- Stir in the octopus or squid, remove from heat, and cover.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a deep wok or saucepan or deep-fryer to 180ºC. Toss the crabs in the flour and salt and dust off any excess, then carefully lay them in the hot oil. Cook for 10-12 minutes. If cooking from frozen, cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towel.
- Serve the curry with a spoonful of rice, a crispy crab, and a wedge of lime.