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What to eat in Asia? Top 18 Asian Crab Dishes

Last update: Fri Mar 21 2025
Top 18 Asian Crab Dishes
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01
Kepiting saus Padang
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Kepiting saus Padang is a traditional seafood dish. It consists of crab that's served in spicy Padang sauce. Mud crabs or blue crabs are usually used for the preparation of this dish. They're boiled in hot water until fully cooked (they will turn red), then shortly simmered in the sauce.


The spicy Padang sauce is usually made with a combination of shallots, garlic, ginger, candlenuts, chili peppers, turmeric, onions, kaffir lime leaves, bay leaves, ketchup, and oyster sauce. It's often enriched and thickened with lightly beaten eggs. 
02

Crab Dish

SOUTH KOREA
4.2
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Gejang is a Korean dish consisting of marinated crabs. The traditional marinade is usually based on soy sauce, and it goes under the name gejang gejang, while its spicier counterpart is known as yangnyeomgejang. The crabs are always alive when they are marinated, and it is recommended to prepare it with female crabs since they are usually filled with roe.


The dish is traditionally served with rice on the side.

03
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Black pepper crab is the unofficial national dish of Singapore, made by stir-frying crab pieces with black pepper, garlic, shallots, and oyster sauce over high heat. The dish is seldom prepared at home, but people can easily find it at numerous street stalls and seafood restaurants.


Once the crab is cooked, it is often garnished with coriander leaves and paired with rice on the side.

MOST ICONIC Black Pepper Crab

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04
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Like many other dishes in Asia, chilli crab started as a street food item, but it has eventually become so popular that today it is considered to be the national dish of Singapore. It consists of a stir-fried crab covered in a succulent, spicy sauce.


The story of chilli crab's origin is a well-known anecdote - it was invented in the 1950s by Cher Yam Tian, who wanted to modify her stir-fried crab recipe by adding bottled chili sauce into the dish. The result was so delicious that her family persuaded her to start selling the dish, so chilli crab began its way to become the signature dish of Singapore. 

MOST ICONIC Chilli crab

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Bún riêu is a crab-based Vietnamese noodle soup. The dish is made in several versions, but the most popular one is made with a tomato base and goes under the name bún riêu cua. The soups are prepared with different broths, but they are always infused with crab paste and come served with vermicelli noodles, while the toppings typically include crab meat, pork, tofu, tomatoes, blood jelly, and a selection of fresh greens such as perilla or bean sprouts.


The combination of sweet and sour flavors make bún riêu one of the favorite noodle dishes in the country.

MOST ICONIC Bún riêu

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06
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Poo cha (a.k.a. poo ja) is a Thai dish consisting of stuffed, deep-fried crabs. The dish is best prepared with fresh crabs that are steamed, and the meat is then removed and flaked before it is combined with pork, shrimps, soy sauce, garlic, fish sauce, and various other spices and seasonings.


The mixture is then stuffed inside crab shells, which are occasionally steamed before they are deep-fried. The crabs are usually served with a dipping sauce on the side.

07
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This famous Sri Lankan curry is made with a combination of crab meat, lime juice, milk or coconut milk, curry leaves, grated coconut, ginger, shallots, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, fenugreek seeds, and red chili peppers. The curry is cooked until the crabs are fully cooked and the gravy develops a thick consistency.


It is recommended to serve this dish hot with rice and Indian flatbreads on the side.

MOST ICONIC Sri Lankan Crab Curry

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Tenshindon is a simple Japanese dish which combines crab meat omelet and rice. It belongs to the broad category of donburi dishes, which includes many Japanese ingredients and meals that are served over rice. The central part of every tenshindon is the omelet which employs crab meat, the authentic Japanese negi onions, and (occasionally) mushrooms, peas, and sliced ginger.


The dish is assembled and usually served in a bowl, in which the rice is placed first, and the omelet is positioned on top. The final addition is a thick sauce that is generously poured over the dish. It is made with different combinations of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, rice wine, sesame oil, oyster sauce, chicken broth, starch, and occasionally ketchup. 
09
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Easily identifiable by the patches of scruffy dark hair on its claws, the succulent, moist, and meaty Shanghai hairy crab is a delicacy that is large as an adult person's palm. Its flesh is firm, yet tender and delicate, so it is always steamed whole, without any seasonings, while the meat is much sweeter than regular crabmeat.


When consumed, it is typically dipped into a combination of rice vinegar and soy sauce, then topped with sliced ginger. These crabs are traditionally eaten hot, and two to four crabs per person usually makes a satisfying meal. Hairy crabs are in season from September until mid-November, a time of the year when the city's neighbourhoods are interspersed with markets and high-end restaurants offering this delicacy. 

MOST ICONIC Shanghai maoxie

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Miến xào cua is a traditional dish of stir-fried glass noodles and crab meat. Other ingredients that are commonly used in the dish include wood-ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and bean sprouts. The ingredients are stir-fried in a big pan, then dressed with a combination of lime juice, minced garlic, sugar, water, and fish sauce.


Once done, miến xào cua is garnished with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving. This traditional dish often appears in restaurants, but it's also prepared at home for special occasions.

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Stew
PHUKET PROVINCE, Thailand
n/a
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Asian Crab Dishes