Hed Chef: Bakwan kepiting

TNP PHOTO: Hedy Khoo

These meatballs pack a punch with the perfect combination of pork, crab meat and crunchy bamboo shoots.

Bakwan Kepiting (translated to pork and crab meatballs, usually served in soup) is a must-have dish in many Peranakan households during Chinese New Year.

It's a dish usually served on special occasions as crab meat is costly and the recipe is laborious if you follow the traditional method of using live crabs, which have to be steamed before the flesh is extracted by hand to ensure there are no odd bits of shell.

I had a go at a recipe shared by housewife Elaine Ong, 63, who is Teochew but learnt how to prepare Peranakan dishes from her Peranakan husband's nanny.

Watch the video below: