Chef Raymond Sim - Crab Tales

It´s the norm that most hotels have expatriate chefs that arrive on two-year contracts. Some contracts are renewed once, which means that the chef stays with the hotel for four years. So, what would you say about a chef who has been with one hotel for an astonishing 15 years? That chef is Raymond Sim from Singapore and the hotel is Radisson Blu MBD, the most prominent hotel in Noida. Sim remembers when he first arrived from Singapore to head Red, the Pan-Asian restaurant, hardly anyone would order crab. It broke Chef Sim´s heart because there is nothing closer to a Singaporean than his crab! “Although we are an island, and are surrounded by water, most of our crab comes from Australia and Sri Lanka,” he informs me.
He tells us fascinating facts about crabs. “First of all, you should know how to recognise whether a crab will be good to eat or not. And that is all about the appearance, freshness and weight. Too light no good lah,” he intones. Then, males and females have different characteristics in terms of taste and texture. “Males have denser, thicker meat that most people find attractive and worth the price. On the other hand, females have lighter, softer, less substantial meat and the main reason why people ask for female crabs is when they carry roe.” Crab meat is cooling, says the chef who had made it his mission to popularise crabs on his menu all these years. “I have succeeded to some extent,” he beams. Apparently, two things stop people from ordering crabs in a restaurant: one is the cost; the other is the messiness factor. You could eat as messily as you like in an informal seafood eatery, but in a 5-star hotel you would only order a crab if you´re with family or close friends and if you´re a true connoisseur. You´d never order crab at a business meeting or on a first date.