panger

The frying first also creates a better flavour similar to sealing off meat at the start of a casserole. My dear late mother would always pull a grumpy face if she was ever served chilli crab that wasn't fried first. She'd tell the difference the instant the crab touched her tongue and the culinary insults would follow soon after lol

Ryder, That sounds great and has my mouth watering. However coming from a Singaporean family may I suggest a few modifications Quickly deep or shallow fry the crab first to get a nice crust around the crab (a light dusting of rice flour also helps). Don't cook the crab all the way through. Then remove from the crab from the pan with most of the oil, make your sauce then return the crab to finish the cooking. I'd also omit the sweet chilli sauce and use bottled minced chilli paste instead. Other than that your recipe sounds spot on, right down to the bread!

I've caught a few bream on the shallow one, just on a steady slow roll. They need to be tuned though. Don't really like the deep one though.

If you want to try something different, google the 'Sebile knot'. I've tested it successfully on a few impoundment barra up to 30kg. It is slimmer than an albright (yes its possible) so casts super well. I've also got it to 100% about half the time ie breaks elsewhere in the braid not at the knot without a double.