It seems only like yesterday when I had my first taste of chili crab in Hong Kong. The overpowering spiciness and heavy loading of garlic did little for me for a virgin experience to remember by; kinda like having my first time with the wrong person.
But everything I thought I knew about chili crab was turned to crap after my visit to Choi Kee Fried Crab Expert.
Sauteed clams with chili and bean sauce.
Let me just say that besides the crabs, everything else served on the (Groupon) menu was mediocre at best. Alright, so the sauteed clams with chili and bean sauce were pretty decent; the clams were small but juicy, and the sauce were thick but tasty. The vegetable stew with seafood was forgettable – I blame the old, dry greens being used – and the soup was mere starch cooked with pieces of tofu and squid.
Vegetable stew with seafood.
But the spicy crabs crabs, oh my…
We ordered ours to medium spicy (you could do yours to low or high spiciness), so the level was just right. The crab was huge, apparently some 600+ grams, and was cooked to the perfect level of “crunchy” meat bite and was served almost scalding hot. The shell was already cracked and I was happily tearing the crab apart limb by limb. The meat tasted almost sweet and the claw meat came out in one whole chunk, a sure sign the crab is fresh.
The minced garlic with green onion and dried shrimps – a crucial ingredient in chili crab – were deep fried to a golden roast and made my mouth water just by the fragrant aroma. These salty bits of deep fried minced garlic would have been perfect with white rice, but since I don’t want to do carbs anymore, I just ate spoonful after spoonful of it. I know, it’s almost defeats the purpose but I was deadly afraid of becoming a bottomless well if I started on the rice, too.
Verdict? So far the best spicy crabs I had, and definitely worth of the greasiness and after-meal smell.
Choi Kee Fried Crab Expert
392-402 Jaffe Road
Causeway Bay
2234 0888
