Crab Cakes

[ghostrider]

Best crabcakes I've had in Baltimore seemed to have been made with mustard & bread crumbs. There may have been minimal mayo but it didn't muck up the flavor or texture.

(Coincidentally still a bit queasy from an overly-mayoed salmon salad last night. I shoulda known better. I like mayo in moderation, & my sense of moderation seems to be more stringent than most folks'.)

[slkinsey]

I recently made crab cakes for a friend who is dieting (crab is pretty good from a "points" perspective). I bound around a pound of lump crab meat (plus minor additions consisting of a fine dice of softened celery, some minced chives and parsley and plenty of Old Bay) with nothing more than a single English Muffin turned into bread crumbs in the food processor and a couple of egg whites. I formed the cakes in a ring mold, pressing down firmly to compact them well, dusted the outside with panko crumbs and let the whole thing sit on a plate in the refrigerator for a while to firm up. They were delicate, but held together well in the pan with a little TLC.

[tim]

Does anyone use other ingredients besides mayonnaise or eggs as a binder for crab cakes?

I'm not a fan of mayonnaise and love to hear what other people are using.

Thanks

-Scott

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Scott,

I have used shrimp as a binder. Blend a few shrimp to a paste like consistency.

I suggested this to a Chef friend. She was aghast because that would increase their costs.

Tim

[FoodMan]

Does anyone use other ingredients besides mayonnaise or eggs as a binder for crab cakes?

I'm not a fan of mayonnaise and love to hear what other people are using.

Thanks

-Scott

←

Scott,

I have used shrimp as a binder. Blend a few shrimp to a paste like consistency.

I suggested this to a Chef friend. She was aghast because that would increase their costs.

Tim

←

Chef Michel Richard in his new and utterly fascinating book "Happy in the Kitchen" does the same thing...and wraps the cakes with corn kernels using plastic wrap....oh then they are steamed and lastly pan fried. The result looks fantastic and sounds great. I have not tried it yet though since I got the book a couple of weeks ago only.

[slkinsey]

Interesting, Tim. I suppose one could use crab paste as a binder for crabcakes, no?

[budrichard]

I second the homemade Mayo. Homemade has absolutely no taste relationship to commercial Mayo.

I use eggs poached for 4-5 minutes, works great! -Dick

[dtilston]

My husband can't stand mayo so I use a little mustard, a little light sour cream and/or an egg. Instead of regular breadcrumbs, for health reasons, I use ground oats. Just grind up whole oats in a food processor until fine and use instead of breadcrumbs to bind. I really don't use much at all, maybe a 1/4 cup of oats per 1lb crab (lump or jumbo lump). I also add minced celery, parsley, garlic, and smoked spanish paprika.

(As a side note, I always used to pan fry my crabcakes but recently grilled them on a stovetop grill instead and they turned out so well I will probably do it more often to cut calories. The only change I made was not to dredge the whole cakes in more ground oats. Not traditional, I know, but tasty and healthy all the same!)

[tim]

Interesting, Tim.  I suppose one could use crab paste as a binder for crabcakes, no?

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Sam,

This would definitely be worth trying. There is a possibility that crab meat would lack the oil to blend into a paste.

Tim

[smangold]

Does anyone use other ingredients besides mayonnaise or eggs as a binder for crab cakes?

I'm not a fan of mayonnaise and love to hear what other people are using.

Thanks

-Scott

←

Scott,

I have used shrimp as a binder. Blend a few shrimp to a paste like consistency.

I suggested this to a Chef friend. She was aghast because that would increase their costs.

Tim

←

Tim,

This sounds very interesting. I definitely have to give it a try.

[wallchef]

Much like a previous post, I use pureed scallops in the restaurant as a binder. They make a really nice crab cake.

Last night, I actually ran a crab cake that used couscous as a major component of the crab cake. It was an Middle Eastern inspired app.

[Kent Wang]

It seems like nearly every restaurant crab cake has too much filler, like bread, though a distinction can be made between fillers and binders. I want maximum crab meat, as uncut as possible.

Those shrimp and scallop pastes sound fantastic!

I like mayo, especially the Japanese Kewpie brand sweet mayo. I devised a Japanese-style recipe with Kewpie, wakame seaweed and panko.

[DTBarton]

Interesting, Tim.  I suppose one could use crab paste as a binder for crabcakes, no?

←

Crab seems to me to be quite a bit more watery than shrimp. Not sure it would "paste" as well.

[mandabear]

I have 2 methods, one using egg, breadcrums, and heavy cream.

The second is my personal way, with miracle whip, a little yello mustard, ritz cracker crumbs and red pepper.

I grew up about a half hour north of Baltimore---

[whifflechef]

I've used homemade mayonnaise - it really makes an enormous difference and has a shockingly different (better) flavor than anything off-the-shelf.

On a more humorous note (but it would work!), what about transglutaminase?  (See the article about 'meat glue' for more.

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Tried the all crab crab cake using meat glue. It worked fine, we lightly poached it to keep moisture while warming, more of a shallow poach with wine and butter, sprinkled with crumbs and toaste dunder the broiler. I thought the texture was great, we used good crab meat. It was basically eating crab. The worst response of any dish on my menu, EVER. I don't think people could get over no filler. They all say they want an all meat cake but it is the filler they crave.

As far as other ideas, artichoke purees, potatoes, the possabilities are endless just try looking at it from a different viewpoint. What items can I turn into pastes, now which of these goes with crab, does it need anything else to help it bind?

[KarenSherwood]

The most incredible crabcakes I've ever had were at La Paloma in Philly. Barb Cohan-Saavedra posts here but I'm not sure if she can give away her DH/chef's secrets, but she told me they're ALL crab (crab mousse or some such used as binder). I'm still hyperventilating over this concept, but the proof was in my mouth. The less 'filler', the better, IMO.

[whifflechef]

so this post spurned me to some more creativity. I just made a crab cake with tapioca. The best part is the versatility of the tapioca, you can flavor it with anything. WWhatever liquid you hydrate it with can be flavored for whatever style. Literally it is tapioca, crab, and some breadcrumb. Great consistancy

[bdevidal]

Interesting, Tim.  I suppose one could use crab paste as a binder for crabcakes, no?

←

It should work, but would prob work best if the crab paste was still raw.

I'm just waiting for them to come out with a home version of this bugger.

Nothing like a crab you could shake the meat out of.

-B

[ludja]

so this post spurned me to some more creativity.  I just made a crab cake with tapioca.  The best part is the versatility of the tapioca, you can flavor it with anything.  WWhatever liquid you hydrate it with can be flavored for whatever style.  Literally it is tapioca, crab, and some breadcrumb.  Great consistancy

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Wow, this is pretty interesting. I haven't cooked/used tapioca at all. Does it hydrate by just soaking in RT liquid? Did you puree or crush the softened tapioca before adding it to hte crabcakes? If not, wouldn't the texture of the tapioca be detectable?

[matttx76]

What about using a shrimp mousse or scallop mousse made in the food prcessor with some eggs & cream. Then folding in the crab and any other garnish you desire. You will get a fluffy & smooth crab cake. Just sear the cakes off in a non stick pan & cook in the oven for about 5 to 8 minutes till somewhat firm.

[sabg]

i love the idea of shrimp paste...what else do use it for?

Does anyone use other ingredients besides mayonnaise or eggs as a binder for crab cakes?

I'm not a fan of mayonnaise and love to hear what other people are using.

Thanks

-Scott

←

Scott,

I have used shrimp as a binder. Blend a few shrimp to a paste like consistency.

I suggested this to a Chef friend. She was aghast because that would increase their costs.

Tim

←

Chef Michel Richard in his new and utterly fascinating book "Happy in the Kitchen" does the same thing...and wraps the cakes with corn kernels using plastic wrap....oh then they are steamed and lastly pan fried. The result looks fantastic and sounds great. I have not tried it yet though since I got the book a couple of weeks ago only.

←

[Jim Charles]

A crab cake isn’t a real crab cake if you have to use any more than a very small amount of whatever to bind it. At least here with our blue crabs the best are with lump meat and you don’t squish them like a baseball and I use some of the finer meat to help bind them with a little egg white. The secret is to put them back in the refrigerator for an hour or so to let them set up after you make them. If you skip that part they’ll fall apart. I cook them in nothing but butter and only turn once. For the people that only want to taste the filler I have no suggestions other than your eating the wrong thing, or the wrong type of crab, or whoever is making them doesn’t really know how to make them.

[SheenaGreena]

Im from the baltimore area and the best crab cakes were the shaped by hand (ball shape - not flat) and they fell apart when you put your fork into them. basically they had little or no breading. My grandmother tends to put crushed up ritz crackers in hers and they come out okay

[Kouign Aman]

Cant find a better place for this -

Had the best crab cakes every. As far as I can tell, pure crab.

The part that makes them over-the-top good?

They are served on a bed of crab macaroni salad. There's just enough creaminess, and toothiness, and tang in the salad to serve as sauce for the crab cake above it.

.

I didnt trust last nights result, so i had them again tonight. Oh my.

Best of all is where these paragons appeared - that famous coastal location, Minneapolis (specifically the Hyatt Regency). I will assume they are the work of the Oceannaire restaurant in the hotel, and try them again, next time I'm close enough to an Oceannaire. Oh my.

[SobaAddict70]

How many crabs should I buy if I were to make enough crab cakes to serve one person? I'm thinking four cakes total, two for one meal and two for maybe a snack or light lunch.

And can you use lobster also? I don't see why not, but maybe someone might think differently.

[heidih]

What kind of crabs do you have available? As to lobster - it find that it does not flake like crab and is more "chewy".