Simple Crab Cakes

5 ingredients and a gentle hand for the perfect bite

Crab cakes are a relatively simple dish with minimal ingredients yet too often what should be a luxuriously crabby bite ends up tasting like cooked bread in crab sauce. Because high-quality crab is somewhat wet with large chunks, many recipes call for handfuls of bread and eggs to bind the crab together, creating a “bready” mess. The key to a solid crab cake is nothing more than a gentle toss in a light sauce, 20 minutes to let the cakes bind, a trip to the freezer, a butter sear, and a few minutes in the oven to finish.

I like to use super lump crab when I make my cakes, however, most crab will work fine. Try and avoid the claw or backfin meat as that can be somewhat gamey; those pieces of crab are much better in a sauce or soup.

When making the cake, try and keep the chunks of crab together as much as possible and mix lightly with the dressing, then allow the mix to rest as the panko bread crumbs will soak up the sauce and juices, pulling it all together without requiring too much mayo and eggs.

For the sauce, I like to use a small amount of mayo and a healthy dose of citrus to cut through the richness of the crab. This also brightens up the flavor, bringing out the naturally sweet flavor of the meat.

Once the crab mix has come together, and you have formed cakes, place the cakes in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm them up making it easier to sear. Then pan sear in whole butter over medium heat. Do not cook it too high or the milk solids in the butter will burn. You want these milk solids intact on the exterior as they will brown in the final oven stage, creating a beautiful crust as well as a nutty flavor as they toast.

Ingredients:

1 lb super lump crab

1 cup panko bread crumb (typically in the Japanese section of the grocery store) - more for searing

Dressing:

2 tablespoon mayo

1 lemon juiced and zested

1 teaspoon Dijo

n mustard

1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped (any herb will do here such as basil, oregano, chives, chervil, or tarragon)

Steps:

-Mix the dressing in a small bowl and set aside.

-Fold the crab together with the breadcrumb.

-Very gently fold the dressing into the crab and breadcrumb mixture and place in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.

-Remove the crab mixture and form into cakes.

-Place the cakes on a plate and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

-Remove from the freezer and cover in more panko so the exterior is full of bread crumbs.

-Add the butter to a medium-sized pan and turn the heat to medium. When the butter begins to foam (not toast), add the crab cakes and cook on one side until golden brown.

-Flip the cakes and place the pan directly into a 350F oven for another 8 minutes.

-Remove from the oven and serve immediately with any one of the sauces posted in this substack (see burger sauce, piri piri sauce, red pepper vinaigrette, herb sauce).