Singapore is considered the ‘Home of the Chilli Crab’, where crabs are stir-fried with a sweet, and slightly spicy gravy, to feed thousands of Singaporeans and visitors alike. The ‘crabs’ used for this iconic dish are most often the Lagoon Crabs imported from Sri Lanka, so much so that Sri Lankan Crab has become a strong brand in Singapore over the past 30 years. The brand strength of Sri Lankan Crab in the country led Dharshan Munidasa to focus an episode of this TV show ‘Culinary Journeys’ on Chilli Crab, filmed in Singapore. It was during this shoot that the initial idea of creating a crab restaurant (which would later become Ministry of Crab!) was born. Therefore, for Dharshan to be back in Singapore to prepare these lagoon crabs in his signature style was indeed coming full circle. Ministry of Crab (MOC) recently had the privilege of being the first Sri Lankan restaurant to be invited to participate in the World Gourmet Summit (WGS), the oldest and largest food event in Southeast Asia. This global event, organised by Peter Knipp Holdings, was inaugurated in 1997 as part of the Singapore Tourism Board’s initiative to establish Singapore as a culinary destination. Since then, it has successfully grown into an internationally recognised event. The two-week gourmet summit featured 14 globally recognised Master Chefs and 19 of Singapore’s best chefs, who came together to provide the gourmands a host of experiences. This included many masterclasses, four-hand dinners, wine/whiskey pairing dinners and the Epicurean Delights promotion, a showcase of each Master Chef’s signature dishes.
The MoC Table Setting
THE CRABS USED FOR THIS ICONIC DISH ARE MOST OFTEN THE LAGOON CRABS IMPORTED FROMSRI LANKA, SO MUCH SO THAT SRI LANKAN CRAB HAS BECOME A STRONG BRAND IN SINGAPORE OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS
We took up residence at the Tung Lok Signatures, a fine dining authentic Chinese restaurant situated in the Orchard Parade Hotel, for a four-day lunch and dinner promotion. Provided the nature of the restaurant that was hosting us, we created two distinct menus: five-courses for lunch and seven courses for dinner. These menus featured a fine selection of Ministry of Crab favourites such as Garlic Chilli Prawn, Baked Crab and Pepper Crab as well as some less popular dishes such as the Avocado Crab Salad and the Oyster Shooters. Having hosted Gourmet Summit MasterChef’s for over eight years, the dynamic duo Chef Li Man and Cha Candy who head the kitchen and restaurant respectively, were of great assistance in ensuring that the Ministry of Crab Pop-Up was a massive success.
Baked Crab, a MoC signature dish
“The restaurant and kitchen staff operated like a well-oiled machine “said Dharshan. “It was one of the most efficient operations I’ve seen since we started doing Pop-Ups, which made our lives so much easier!”. The appreciation was mutual, with Chef Li stating that in all his years of hosting overseas chefs, Ministry of Crab team was the easiest to work with as they were very hands-on, and the Tung Lok team only had to play an assisting role. Cha Candy also added that as this was the first time they served Sri Lankan food at Tung Lok, it was a very fresh experience for most of their guests who were used to the intricacies and order of high-end Chinese cuisine. As Singapore is home to a myriad of crab-centric restaurants, it was also interesting to see so many of these restaurant owners stepping into Tung Lok Signatures to try, savour and experience the uniqueness of the Ministry of Crab dishes. We were also quite proud to be able to represent Sri Lanka in such a big way by bringing our local ingredients and unique methods of preparation to Singapore.
Chef Dharshan Munidasa with Chef Li Man
