Heat the oil on medium low with all the aromatics until small bubbles start to appear. Then set the temperature to the lowest setting and heat for about 15 minutes. Then remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes. Vegetable Oil – You need a neutral flavoured oil , so the chilli flavour shines. Olive oil is a NO. This is an easy one – mud crabs, as used in Singapore, are thin on the ground/sea floor in my part of the world, so I used brown crabs, though you could substitute soft-shell, spider or just about any other edible variety, or indeed use the sauce for lobster, prawns or whatever else takes your fancy (in which case, you will, of course, need to alter the preparation and cooking instructions accordingly.) Though chilli crab tends to be less spicy than the dish’s name implies, chilli’s fruity warmth plays a big part in the finished dish. Teo uses bird’s eye, Leong chilli sauce (which I interpret as sambal), Roland’s recipe, as interpreted by the Martha Stewart team, chilli paste and chilli garlic sauce, Liaw long red chillies, while Tan simply lists red chillies. Given the other ingredients involved will rob them of much of their nuance, it doesn’t matter too much what kind you use, as long as they’re red and have some heat to them; exactly how much depends on your taste, though I like the sweetness of the long red variety, when they’re available. As such, I’d suggest starting with the amount of sugar and vinegar (both of which tend to be used in recipes with less ketchup) below and adding more to taste if necessary at the end: the sauce should be sweet, tangy and mildly hot, rather than fiery, though you could add chilli sauce if you feel it needs it; and if you happen to have some sambal oelek lying around, even better.

While the soup is cooking, place the remaining potato chunks on a baking tray, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. All the dishes are divided by meal and carb-count – 'high carb lunches', 'low carb breakfasts', etc – and Haskell is clear that he wants his book to work for everyone, whatever their goals. In a food processor or pestle and mortar, blend the spice paste ingredients together into a paste. Heat the oil in a wok or large sauté pan on a medium heat and cook the paste for a couple of minutes stirring continuously, then add the crab into the pan. Mix well until it’s well coated.Haskell is coy – but doesn't rule it out. "I would love to be a food critic – I think it's almost easier to write about this stuff than it is to talk to people in person – and I've got another couple of book ideas. Possibly. Watch this space."

Even if you question Haskell's credentials as a nutrition expert, there's no doubting the know-how of his collaborator, sporting chef-to-the-stars, Omar Meziane.The dishes talk to each other,” he says. Not literally, of course, before you start edging for the door, though hospitality is a tremendously stressful business and you could forgive the odd flight into surrealism due to extreme tiredness.