To make the sauce combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust sugar and vinegar to taste. Add the potato starch with a little water and simmer 10 minutes. Add more starch or water to get the correct thickness. Probably more starch. Allow to cool and set aside.

Butcher and clean the crab(s). Crack the claws etc. Steam each piece 90 seconds and set aside to cool.

Heat 3 Tbs oil in a large wok and add the sauce. Mix and heat 30 seconds. Add the crab and toss through. Cover and cook on lower heat for 3 minutes.

Add the shallots and bell pepper, toss through and cook 3 minutes till done. Plate with noodles on the side.
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1 x Large Qld Mud crab or 2 small small 700g
3 Shallots in 50mm lengths
1 Green Bell pepper. Charred and cut into strips
3 Tbs peanut oil

Chilli sauce:
3 Cayenne red chillies
1/2 Tbs Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Tbs Ginger (finely chopped)
45 ml Red vinegar
250ml Tomato juice
4 Tbs Brown sugar
1 tsp Hot Paprika
Dashes Tabasco
Sprinkles of Salt
1 - 2 Tbs potato starch in 50ml water

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For me Qld mud crab is about as good as a crab can be. Certainly live, local and whole. Alaskan crab claws are better in a cold seafood medley and much easier to eat but alas, not alive. This is a once a year treat when it is mud crab season. Christmas to Easter. Crabs full of meat. Otherwise a waste of ingredients and time. I must say, I am still a lobster man.

Qld mudcrab in season is a fantastic ingredient. People either eat crab or they don't. I am on the don't side and my wife is very much on the do side. Those that do like burrowing, digging and chewing through to get the tasty morsels of crabmeat. Me, not so much. But what I do like is the large claw of a Qld mudcrab. When in season and full of meat and fat this is the best crab eating on the planet.

Live crab is pretty easy. Butcher it properly and steam and fry it up. So, I like to make my own sauce to add a wow factor. And wow it's good. Any commercial sauce to your liking will work. But why not make a statement with your own. And not that hard. Like most sweet sauces, sugar, vinegar, something to give it volume (tomato juice), aromatics and flavour, and a thickner. My recipe is so good. But by all means experiment and add and remove aromatics and flavour as you like.

Steam and let the pieces cool before frying up. This will make the meat seperate from the shell far easier.