🦀 Thai Curry Crab (Poo Pad Pong Karee) Super Detailed Recipe・Editor's Hong Kong-Style Cooking Tips

A Thai restaurant signature dish, Poo Pad Pong Karee (Curry Crab) features rich, golden curry gravy smothered in sweet crab meat, and the addition of egg creates a delicious, slippery, and flavorful dish that's sure to make you want to stop! In fact, even Hong Kong kitchens can easily create restaurant-quality crabs using affordable flower crabs. With a bit of care, it's definitely easy to make. I highly recommend it! 👩🏻🍳🦀🌶️

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

• 2 fresh crabs/flower crabs (about 700-900g)

• 1 onion (shredded)

• 2 green onions (cut into sections)

• Half a green/red bell pepper (optional, shredded)

• 4 cloves of garlic (minced)

• 2.5-3 tablespoons Thai yellow curry powder

• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

• 1.5 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 1-1.5 teaspoons sugar

• 150ml coconut milk (or 100ml evaporated milk + 50ml coconut milk)

• 2 eggs (whisk well)

• 100ml chicken broth

• Cornstarch/corn starch (to seal crabs)

• appropriate amount of oil

• A little coriander and Thai taro (garnish)

• 1-2 chili peppers (sliced, can be adjusted according to the spiciness)

• Appropriate amount of water

Detailed cooking steps
1️⃣ Wash and butcher the crab, cut open the shell and legs, wipe dry, and evenly coat with a thin layer of cornstarch.
2️⃣ Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add a suitable amount of oil and par-fry the crab until it is 90% cooked (golden and fragrant, but not fully cooked inside). Remove and set aside. (This step helps keep the crab meat tender and not mushy.)
3️⃣ Pour excess oil from the wok, add onion, bell pepper, minced garlic and chili pepper and sauté until fragrant.
4️⃣ Add curry powder and stir-fry until fragrant (always on medium heat). Add chicken broth, coconut milk, oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar and cook until the flavors are blended and the aroma is enhanced.
5️⃣ Return the crab pieces to the wok, cover the pot and bake over medium heat for about 3 minutes to allow the crab to absorb the curry aroma and keep the sauce slightly thick.
6️⃣ After turning off the heat, pour in the egg liquid and stir briefly to make the egg liquid smooth enough to cover the crab pieces. Do not fry it for too long to keep it slippery.
7️⃣ Finally, add the scallion segments and mix well. Place on a plate and sprinkle with coriander.

Editor's personal tip:

• After cooking, add more curry sauce, it is super delicious when eaten with rice or noodles!

• Mixing a small amount of evaporated milk into coconut milk can make the egg mixture smoother.

• If you like it to be more flavorful, you can soak the crab pieces and bake them for a few more minutes.

• Must add taro and coriander, both the appearance and the aroma will be leveled up.

• If you like spicy food, you can add more minced garlic and chili peppers. You can also add a little red curry sauce to the yellow curry powder to enhance the flavor.

Try it after work! The Thai flavorful crab roe and egg sauce will make you finish the rice. It will definitely be a hit at family dinners! You can enjoy this popular dish at home even if you don’t have to fly to Thailand. 👍🏼🦀🍛