🍽️ Typhoon Shelter Crab

Crabs fried with garlic-chili, cha chaan teng legend.

Typhoon Shelter Crab is a classic Cantonese dish of Hong Kong, named after the typhoon shelters where fishing boats once moored. Crab (mud crab or roe crab) is chopped, lightly dusted and fried until the shell turns red and crisp, then stir-fried with heaps of golden fried garlic, chili, fermented black beans and breadcrumbs. The plate is covered in fragrant, savoury garlic crumbs; the sweet, firm crab meat underneath picks up the spicy, salty aroma. It is eaten by cracking the shells by hand, tossing the crab with the garlic crumbs. A star of Hong Kong's dai pai dong and Cantonese restaurants, it also appears in tweaked versions at cha chaan teng. Typhoon Shelter crab with beer is a defining Hong Kong late-night combination.