Flight Steward & Wedding Planner Sell $25 Chilli Crab From Home To Supplement Income

Killa Krab was inspired by an encounter while on holiday in Bali eight years ago. Danial and Syimmy had befriended a local family and were invited to dinner. Wanting to chip in, they asked if they could contribute to the meal by cooking a dish. The family had some fresh crabs and as luck would have it, Danial’s family speciality was chilli crab — the recipe is from his mum, who enjoys cooking halal Chinese cuisine. He whipped up the dish with whatever was in the kitchen and the Balinese family loved it. “We were not only sharing food but we bond[ed] at the table too,” says Danial.

Killa Krab is clearly targeted at the younger crowd — from its slick marketing to affordable pricing and unique single-sized portions. “People love chilli crab but they think it’s expensive and eaten only on special occasions”. Their offerings are reasonably priced, starting at $25 for a basic one-crab bundle. All the crabs are cooked in Danial's kitchen.

In these tough times, Killa Krab also provides a lifeline to those affected by the pandemic’s fallout. Their friends, whose jobs too are affected by the economic downturn, help run the network of deliveries to supplement their income.

The crabs are collected live from a supplier and prepared on the delivery day itself. Moving forward, they plan to introduce other flavours like black pepper, butter and salted egg.

There are three bundles on offer, ranging from $25 to $75. If you’re wondering, the bundle names take inspiration from the popular US sitcom, Modern Family, which the guys are huge fans of. Killa Krab currently only offers delivery for dinners on weekends and are available for pre-order from Monday to Thursday through their Instagram account. Its fastest fingers first — they tell us they sell out quickly every week.

Our single Sri Lankan mud crab is the size of about two palms. We appreciated that the pincers also came pre-cracked, which made it easier to eat. Although the crab meat was not as sweet as others we’ve had, it was fresh and clean with no fishy aftertaste. The crustacean was quite plump too and yielded almost half a bowl of meat after deshelling.

As for the thick sauce, it is sweet and mildly spiced with a nice mouthfeel — we tasted tangy tomato first, followed by the creaminess of the scrambled eggs and a slight tingling of chilli on our tongue towards the end. The guys say they intentionally keep the flavours light so the freshness of the crab shines through.

The battered crab is fried to crispy perfection and remained so even after delivery.There’s still chilli crab sauce served on the side, and it pairs well with the crunchy crab, resulting in a medley of tangy, salty and sweet flavours. A good option when you’re too lazy to peel regular crabs.

Even with chilli crab that hits the spot, all it takes is bad mantou for the experience to go crabby. Killa Krab’s mantou, which comes with each set meal, is sourced from a local supplier and fried to order. The fluffy bread retained its crisp shell and the insides were pillowy with a pleasantly sweet, buttery taste. We recommend ordering extra mantous as you’ll likely want seconds.

Chilli crab may be Killa Krab’s signature dish, but we think the star is its soft shell crab. The mildly spiced, sweetish chilli sauce is similar to those found at neighbourhood zi char stalls and suited for even the young ones. What’s great is its hip yet convenient single-portion packaging and price point of $25 for 350g (or $71/kg) of mud crab vs the approximately $90-$110/kg at specialist seafood restaurants like Jumbo and Long Beach.

Orders can be collected in Serangoon at no extra charge. Island-wide delivery from $8 onwards. https://www.instagram.com/killakrabsg.

Photos: Killa Krab & Kubo Loh Hidenobu