Typhoon shelter crab, Hong Kong seafood dish made with garlic, chilli and dab of nostalgia

South China Morning Post

2 days ago

Yeung Yan-chi knows his way around a crab. In his nearly 30 years as head chef of Bamboo Village restaurant, in Kowloon's Jordan neighbourhood, he estimates he has prepared about 60,000 of them.
These days, the Hong Kong-born 64-year-old works in a front-of-house role at the restaurant, a position that is less demanding on his body. But the vast knowledge he accumulated over the years has stayed with him.
That includes the skills needed to prepare
typhoon shelter -style spicy fried crab, one of Bamboo Village's signature dishes and a Hong Kong classic.
'I started as a chef at Bamboo Village in 1988 and the spicy crab has always been a favourite dish with diners,' Yeung says when we meet just before the dinner rush.
Mud crab expert Yan Chi-yeung has worked at Bamboo Village restaurant in Hong Kong's Jordan neighbourhood since 1988. Photo: Kylie Knott
He says mud crabs from Vietnam are best suited to the dish, holding one up to reveal its mottled green armour that, when exposed to heat, turns a reddish orange.
Weighing about 1.5kg (3.3lbs) on average, the crabs are sourced from the mangrove forests of central Vietnam, where salty seawater meets fresh river water.