Cua rang me (tamarind crab) is a Vietnamese-style tamarind crab that is incredibly simple, yet an absolutely mouth-watering dish.   A famous Singaporean version of this dish, the chili crab, is prepared somewhat the same with slight difference on the flavors used. The stir-fried crab is made with a sauce consisting of shrimp paste, tomato puree, and red chili. It became every tourist’s must-try after CNN’s travel website named it as one of the world’s 50 most delicious foods.  

The cua rang me  is almost similar except for the sauce’s recipe, is much more popular. Made from a combination of tamarind, red chili, black peppercorns, sugar, and fish sauce, the sauce in cua rang me is sour, spicy, salty, and sweet at the same time - definitely a mix of all the goodness. The dish is prepared with fried pork rind cubes that are crispy and fatty, and is often served with hot, crispy baguettes for mopping up the sauce.    

Its flavors are widely appreciated both locals and visitors. Luke Nguyen, the acclaimed Vietnamese-Australian chef who owns the famous Red Lantern chain of restaurants in Sydney, once wrote about the dish in one of his popular English-language cookery books.

  There are a couple of places around Ho Chi Minh City that are known to prepare this dish well. But among those labeled as the best recipes for cua rang me is served in Ba Chi in District 5, part of Vietnam’s largest Chinatown.  

Preparing the cua rang me involves some couple of tricks to take its flavors to its best. The real key to making this dish successfully is to have the freshest crab you can get. In Ba Chi, their secret lies on the considerable amounts of black pepper used in the sauce and pork rinds They also cook the crabs in a big wok and on an unusually large gas oven that is somehow believes to largely help infusing the food with all the needed flavors.  

Coming to this place is wonderful experience as diners themselves choose the crabs they like from a tank containing live crustaceans of various kinds and sizes. It is then taken to the kitchen to be prepared. Depending on the weight of the crab picked, each dish could cost around VND200,000-400,000. In no time, the crab they handpicked is sitting on top of their table, glazed with the lovely tamarind sauce. With its smell so inviting, diners couldn’t wait to roll up their sleeves and dig in.   Ba Chi is open every day at around 6 p.m. to 12 midnight. If you are looking for a a wonderful cua rang me experience, you will can this place at 13 Pho Co Dieu Street, Ward 12, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.