Crab Cakes

[taryn]

what's your favourite??

[Jason Perlow]

The simplest possible -- lump crabmeat, with a -little- bit of seasoned breadcrumbs and mayonnaise (maybe with some mustard and cajun seasoning added) as binder. It should be like 85 or 90 percent crabmeat and 10 or 15 percent binder. Nothing makes me crazier than ordering crab cakes at a restaurant and getting something with 30 percent or more binder in it.

Form into round hockey-puck like things, pan fry in a neutral flavored oil with some butter added.

[fryguy]

Lump crabmeat, seasoned with salt, pepper, grainy mustard, old bay, and tarragon. Egg yolk as a binder, dusted with panko and deep fried.

[Luckylies]

amen to Jason and Fryguy. Crabcakes must be crabby. I like lump blueclaw meat, some people like peekytoe..but it freaks me out. I like to mince some yellow bell pepper with my crab, salt, pepper, eggyolk, sometimes a smidge of garlic or roasted garlic and a little breadcrumb. coat in crumbs or panko and fry. you can also not bread them and saute them in a bit of butter, just make sure not to over cook them!

I serve em with aioli or old bay/tabasco mayo.

[NulloModo]

I will give another vote to the no breadcrumb camp. Some chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper plus a little egg are all you need to hold them together. I prefer them sauteed in butter sans panko or breadcrumb coating as well, they are more tender that way. Don't forget to add lots of old bay.

[Busboy]

We bind with a whole egg per pound of meet, and it seems to work well. Outside: only smashed Ritz crackers give the proper crust, I say.

Once you get the basics down, you can play. We make "Mexican" Crab Cakes with cumin and garlic and a little spice and chopped cilentro, "Chinese" Crab Cakes with ginger and whatever looks good at the moment, "Traditional" Crab Cakes with lots of Old Bay and generally riff based on our mood. Sometimes we throw in a little cream, just for fun, or chopped shallots. Buerre Blanc makes a good sauce if you're in the mood, and you can tart that up, too, to match the crabcake.

Most important key to success: pick through the crabmeat twice. Nothing's worse than biting into a piece of shell.

[Malawry]

I'm in the camp of crumbing the outside but not using any crumbs as filler. (I do this with salmon and cod cakes, as well.) Personally I like some veg mixed in--brunoised multicolored peppers and tiny ribbons of scallion, along with just enough mayo to hold them together. Pan-fry v-e-r-y carefully--though picking the loose bits out of the pan is the cook's privelege.

[phifly04]

i like mayo,Colemans dry mustard,old bay,worcestershire,lemon juice,minced onion and minced bell pepper 1 egg yolk and maybe like 5 crushed Ritz cackers

**Helpful hint--Spread crabmeat on half sheet pan and bake for 45 seconds in a 350F oven Any shell or cartlidge will become very white for e-z picking

Dave s

[M. Lucia]

Having grown up in Baltimore, I consider myself somewhat of an expert in this.

Ditto on having a miximum of crab. Using crushed crackers instead of breadcrumbs is the secret to making them light. Saute in a mix of oil and butter for flavor.

Here is a recipe that my family has used forever, and I would swear you can't find anything better.

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup minced onion

2 eggs, lightly beaten (sometimes I only use 1)

pinch each: Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt, cayenne pepper

1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over

1 cup crushed Saltines or soda crackers

unsalted butter

vegetable oil

Combine the mayo, onion, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and cayenne. Add in the crabmeat and 1/4 cup of the cracker crumbs. Shape the mixture into cakes about 1 inch thick. Coat the crab cakes with the remaining cracker crumbs.

In a large skillet, melt 1 dab of the butter in 2 spoons of the oil. Add half of the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until golden and crisp, ~3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining. Serve with lemon wedges.

[pam claughton]

I like to add a dash of habenero pepper sauce, diced sweet yellow or orange bell peppers, and some diced mango. Just enough breadcrumbs to hold it together, one egg yolk, splash of lemon, and dash of old bay.

Saute in butter...

Pam

[zilla369]

Where i work, they combine crabmeat with shredded fennel and cilantro, using egg and potato flakes as the binder. Then coated in potato flakes before frying. Yeah, i know - potato flakes! But believe it or not, they make a good flavorful substitute for the bread crums.

[bottom-dragger]

if you have the chance, grill over charcoal rather than

fry. originally tried doing this in one of those fish baskets

but the meat became too intwined in the wires. got one

of the enameled vegetable grilling grates. works well.

grill, don't fry

joe

petersburg (it was 50 yesterday!!) alaska

[budrichard]

Like a lot of things to eat, the exact recipe is not so important but what is important is the ingrediants. Canned crab, cold packed soaked in preservative from Thailand is OUT! We use Peekytoe fresh from Maine from Browne Trading. The mayo MUST be homemade, commercial preps just don't make it. After that, add whatever you want and fry lightly in peanut oil. SUBLIME!-Dick

[the g-man]

need some advice for upcoming dinner party.

I have a very good crab cake recipe, but am wondering how best to serve them.

any ideas on presentation? with aioli? mixed greens? something else?

any advice from crabcake afficionados would be greatly appreciated.

[monavano]

I'd garnish the crab cakes with plenty of lemon and parsely. As a side, I'd recommend a beautiful slaw of your choice, with lots of color and crispness.

[John S.]

need some advice for upcoming dinner party.

I have a very good crab cake recipe, but am wondering how best to serve them. 

any ideas on presentation?  with aioli?  mixed greens?  something else?

any advice from crabcake afficionados would be greatly appreciated.

←

Hey G,

I always plate them out on top of a sauce or aioli according to the ingredients of the crabcake. For instance one of my favorites has chipotle sauce (adobo) in them, so I would normally squirt or coat the plate with something with chipotle in it, like chipotle mayonaisse or something more complex like a chipotle hummus.

If there is a strong flavor in the cakes, then use a milder green like you said arrugula or italian parsley. My pick if using smoked jalapenos in the cakes would be cilantro.

\John S.

[NulloModo]

I like to serve them with an Old Bay spiked roumelaide as a sauce. As for a side, it is hard to go wrong with a bitter greens salad with a nice vinegary dressing.

[Tess]

One of my local bistros serves them with a mixture of mayonnaise and pureed watercress, which I really like.

[RETREVR]

Ajvar

[chef koo]

i know alot of restaurants serve a mayonaise with crab cakes and that it's very popular. and if that what you want than by all means. but personally i like something sour. crab is really rich so it's nice to have a bit of sournes. i like the lemon and parsley idea. or maybe some type of vinegar, or a sour vegetable. a tomato of some kind

[Susan in FL]

Corn something. Corn and crab are great together, and corn is a great match with Chardonnay as is crab. A corn salsa of some kind is what I usually serve, and I've also served corn on the cob if it's very casual, or corn pudding, etc. etc. Another nice looking presentation is asparagus spears criss-crossed around the crabcake in a square pattern. The sauce ideas are good, too (I love a beurre blanc with them), and you can't go wrong with some mixed baby greens as a garnish. Another idea... Avocado tastes real fine next to crab cakes, and all you need to do is dress the avocado slices with lemon or lime juice and salt and pepper.

[DRColby]

Corn-on-the-cob, coleslaw and 2 sauces, a dill-mustard, like would be used with gravlax, and a red pepper mayo sauce.

I like take my crab cakes put them in the icebox for a couple of hours to setup, and then just brown them in oil and place them on a rack and put in 350 oven to finish. That way they are light and not so greasy.

Dave

[Corinna Dunne]

i know alot of restaurants serve a mayonaise with crab cakes and that it's very popular. and if that what you want than by all means. but personally i like something sour. crab is really rich so it's nice to have a bit of sournes. i

←

I agree. I think something sharp is needed to offset the richness of the crab. I mix homemade aioli with an equal amount of creme fraiche and find that this works very well. Not only is it sharper, but the texture is a bit lighter too, which is nice against the denseness of the crabcakes. And as many others have mentioned upthread, I think arugula is particularly good with them too.

[Busboy]

If they're in the markets in your neck of the woods, just some spectacularly fresh tomatoes with equally fresh basil.

I love corn with crabcakes, too, on the cob, as a relish or made into little corn pancakes. Nothing quite says summer like crabcakes, tomatoes and corn, and I like to eat them with a manly pink wine from the South of France.

[godito]

I like remoulade better, but Aioli is a close second. I like to serve my crab-cakes with an avocado salsa... it goes a little something like this:

diced avocado

sauteed corn kernels (fresh, not frozen preferably)

roasted bell peppers, peeled and diced

red onion, diced

some chiles, minced

olive oil

lime juice

a couple of drops of good balsamic

Serve while the corn is still hot