Vegetarian Fish with “Chilli Crab” Sauce

East Coast Chilli Crab is the word-famous dish that put Singapore on the culinary map. Till now, I still have not found a vegetarian/vegan version of it at any of the vegetarian eateries. My last tasting of this dish was more than 15 years ago, I almost forgotten the taste. Yesterday, I cook it which was my first try, I think it is almost there – sweet and spicy. I could not find a good substitute for the crab, so I used vegetarian fish slices. I still believe that young jackfruits, those unripe ones will make a good substitution but I don’t know where to get them.

Oh yeah, I added tomatoes puree to replace the usage of corn starch. Egg is omitted for a vegan version. I cannot remember whether the chilli crab sauce thick or thin. Therefore, I didn’t add any water in the recipe. If you find that it is too thick, just add some water or stock a little bit at a time to get the desired consistency, before you turn off the heat. It is better to mince or finely chopped the garlic, ginger and chilli rather than blended (I blended it, so you can't see little lumpy garlic, ginger and chilli in the picture). Don’t forget the hot buns which is crispy outside and fluffy inside that you can use to mop up the sauce with.
Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 2-4 slices vegetarian fish, pan-fried or bake or not at all
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few sprigs fresh coriander or spring onion, for garnish

Sauce
° 25g ginger, finely minced or blended
° 15g-20g garlic, finely minced or blended
° 2 red chilli padi or 1-2 red chilli, seeded and finely minced or blended
° 100g tomatoes (weight after peeling), peeled and blended
° 1½ tablespoons chilli sauce, or to taste

° 3 tablespoons tomatoes sauce
° 1 tablespoon salted soybean paste
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
° 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add in the ginger, garlic and chilli and fry till fragrant.
2. Add in the salted soy bean paste and stir-fry for a moment. Stir in the tomatoes puree, chilli sauce, tomatoes sauce, cooking rice wine, sugar and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add in some water or stock. Throw in the vegetarian fish slices.
4. Dish up, garnish with coriander and serve immediately.