To make the chilli sauce, place the oil in a saucepan and heat gently. Add the chillies, ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2min until softened. Add the sugar, fish and soy sauces, then bring to the boil and simmer for 2min. Remove from the heat, then stir in 120ml (8tbsp) water and the lime juice. Pour into a serving bowl, cover and set aside.
Step 2
To make the crab balls, heat the oil in a small pan and add the spring onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and lemon grass. Cook gently for 2-3min or until soft. Transfer to a bowl, cool and stir in the crab meat, coriander, fish sauce, 90ml (6 level tbsp) breadcrumbs and one egg. Mix and season with black pepper only. Shape tablespoonfuls of the mixture into 18 balls, place on a baking sheet and chill for 20min.
Step 3
Coat each ball lightly with flour, roll in the remaining beaten eggs, then the remaining breadcrumbs. Deep-fry in batches in hot oil for 3-4min or until golden. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and keep warm while frying the remaining balls. Garnish with coriander sprigs and shredded red chilli, if you like, and serve with the sweet chilli sauce.
Step 4
Prepare ahead. Make sweet chilli sauce as in step 1; cover and chill for up to five days. Make and fry crab balls; cool, cover and chill for up to one day. To use: Remove the sweet chilli sauce from the fridge one hour before using. Place the crab balls on a wire rack over a baking sheet and reheat at 200°C (180°C fan oven) mark 6 for 8-10min. Garnish the balls and serve with the sauce.
Step 5
Make and fry the crab balls, then pack and freeze. To use: Thaw the balls at cool room temperature and reheat on a wire rack over a baking sheet at 190°C (170°C fan oven) mark 5 for 20min. Garnish the balls and serve with the sauce.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
