(THE NEW PAPER) - The beauty of this stuffed crab shell recipe is how simple it is to pull off with the help of store-bought crab claw meat.

Making this at home also means you can be generous with the amount of crab meat.

I was lucky enough to score clean flower crab carapaces, or shells, for this recipe.

Save the flower crab carapaces the next time you cook them. For this recipe, they are boiled and cleaned.

I used 140g of the crab mixture to stuff each crab because the shells were medium-sized.

Deep-fry over medium-low heat so that the exterior does not burn before the filling is cooked.

stuffed crab shells

INGREDIENTS

5 crab shells

About 450g pasteurised crab claw meat

20g panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

20g Chinese celery, chopped

15g spring onion, sliced

1 red finger chilli (15g), coarsely chopped

1 green finger chilli (15g), coarsely chopped

1 red onion (110g), chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp ground coriander

2 Tbs fish sauce

1 tsp lime juice (from 1 small lime)

3 Tbs cornflour

1 whole egg, beaten

1 egg white

400ml oil

METHOD

1. Place crab meat in a bowl. Add panko, Chinese celery, spring onion, sliced chillies, red onion and garlic. Mix well.

2. Add ground black pepper, ground coriander, fish sauce and lime juice.

3. Add cornflour, beaten egg and egg white. Mix well.

4. Fill each crab shell with about 140g of crab mixture. Place shells on a plate and wrap with cling film. Place in the fridge for two hours to help the mixture firm up.

5. Heat 400ml oil in a wok. Place three crab shells with filling side down into hot oil. Lower heat to medium-low. Fry for three minutes until filling is golden-brown. Turn over and fry for another two minutes.

6. Remove and place on kitchen paper (filling side up) to drain off excess oil. Fry the remaining two stuffed crab shells.

7. Serve immediately.