Kam Heong (金香) literally translates to 'Golden Fragrance' from the Cantonese dialect - yes the Chinese do like to name dishes with auspicious names like these, this is another uber popular Malaysian dish that encapsulates Chinese, Malay and Indian flavours in a most delicious way. Since I bought 2 packets of the wonderful curry leaves last weekend, what better recipe to feature than to my next favourite recipe after Butter Prawns than Kam Heong crab?!
I used crab claws for this recipe mainly because I had some frozen ones in my freezer - I really am not up to chopping up live crabs while they are still crawling and moving! I'm such a coward, I do admit. Anyway, these were really delicious too despite the fact that they were frozen. Fresh curry leaves cannot be compromised however, the curry leaves are really the soul of this dish as with butter prawns - definitely more than worth your while to track these down.
For more tasty recipes from Malaysia on Tastes of Home, please click below:
Malaysian Butter Prawns Recipe
Stir-fried Taro Leaves with Belacan
Stir-fried Kangkung (Water Spinach) with Fu Yue (fermented beancurd)
Deep-fried Nam Yue Chicken Wings
2 crabs (Dunganese) or 12 crab claws
Enough oil to deep-fry the crabs
2 tbsps dried shrimp (soaked and rinsed)
1 tbsp curry powder
6-8 bird's eye chilli peppers (chopped finely)
Handful of curry leaves (only the leaves)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2-3 tbsps water
Firstly, deep-fry the crabs until the shell turn pink. Next, remove from oil and drain, set aside.
Now, heat about 2 tbsps of oil (save the oil from earlier) and stir-fry the chilli peppers, curry leaves and dried shrimp till fragrant. Add the curry powder and water, next add in the crabs from earlier and stir-fry around. Finally, add the soy sauce and water. Stir around briskly until well coated. You may add more water depending on how 'watery' you want your gravy to be. Dish out and serve hot with rice.