Crab cakes are to the Mid-Atlantic region as chili is to Texas. And like chili recipes, there are virtually thousands of crab cake recipes to be found. Everyone seems to have their own. If you ever go to Maryland, Washington D.C., or Virginia, you will find the ubiquitous treats served in fine seafood restaurants, smoky dive bars, and just about every eating establishment in between. They sell them at ballparks in Baltimore. I lived on the East Coast for a while some years ago, and quickly became hooked on the little delicacies. When I moved back to flyoverland, I developed my own recipe, fine-tuning it over the years. I think I've figured out what works now. Here it is, and I hope you enjoy it.
The best crab cakes are made from fresh crab meat available at your local fish monger. If you live on the coast, it really is fresh, and sold in bulk. For the rest of us, the closest we get to "fresh" is pasteurized meat, vacuum packed in one pound cans and shipped to better grocery stores and warehouse clubs.
Crab meat typically comes from the back or backfin area of the crab. If the meat is produced on the East Coast, it may come from Blue Crabs fished out of the Chesapeake, which is the traditional type. However, due to depletion of crabs on the Atlantic seaboard, much of the lump crab on the market is now imported from Asia, and this is usually high quality if you stick with a reputable name brand. West Coast residents may find the endemic Dungeness Crab, particularly in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Dungeness Crab is quite tasty, and perhaps a bit more sweet than Blue Crab.
The highest quality "lump" crab meat will set you back around $15-25/lb., but is well worth the expense. Lump crab is typically subdivided by lump size, and marketed as "lump," "super lump," "jumbo lump," etc. The larger the lumps, the higher the cost. I like the Blue Star and Phillips pasteurized "super lump" crab in the 1lb. tins from Costco and other stores - about $14-$16. This has lumps almost the size of your pinky finger, with a nice texture and rich flavor. Where I live in land-locked Minnesota, that's about as good as it gets unless I happen to stumble upon a seafood market that flies in the fresh stuff. There are online vendors who will ship fresh pasteurized crab meat to you, though I have never tried any of it. You can sometimes find "claw meat" in the stores for somewhat less, and this is a bit lower in quality, yet often good, with a bit of a sweeter flavor. Some brands offer a mixture of lump and claw meat, which combines the textural qualities of the lump meat with a bit of sweetness from the presence of claw meat.
Generally, the higher the grade, the less "fishy" it tastes. High-quality crab meat should be almost white in color; poorer grades will have a murky brownish color. In the absence of fresh or high-grade canned, you can do OK in a pinch with the little tins of crab meat found in the tuna section of the grocery -- if you choose a good brand (e,g., Chicken of the Sea "Lump" for around $4 per 6 oz. tin in the supermarket). Avoid the cheap canned brands (e.g., Orleans) as they tend to be of low quality and poor texture. You generally get what you pay for. Regardles of what kind you get, you might have to pick through it to remove the occasional bits of shell.
And that so-called "imitation crab" found in the supermarket doesn't even compare -- save that stuff for rangoons and cheap sushi rolls. Use the real stuff for cakes. Go big or go home.
This recipe will yield cakes that are chunky in texture and have a rich, buttery flavor -- and be just a little sweet, due to the natural flavors of the crab. Very mild, with just enough seasoning to let the flavor of the crab come through. Many other crab cake recipes use mayonnaise, and some even advocate adding sugar! What are these people thinking? I don't think mayo is really necessary, as good crab meat will provide a rich flavor without it. And sugar? We're not making candy here, and we certainly don't want to mask the flavor of the crab.
Ingredients:
1 lb. lump crab meat, drained (or three 6 oz. tins of commercial crab meat, drained)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. worcestershire
1/2 tsp. Old BayTM seasoning
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. black pepper
12 ClubTM or RitzTM crackers, finely crushed (Don't even THINK of using saltines!)
Gently mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl, leaving out the cracker crumbs and crab meat for now. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the crushed crackers, saving the remainder of the crumbs on a plate for coating the crab cakes. (For a bit more flavor, add 1/4 tsp. of Old Bay to the remaining cracker crumbs.) Finally, add in the crab meat, and gently mix it in using a fork or spatula -- or better yet, your hands, coating the lumps with the mixture. Be careful not to pulverize the lumps when mixing - the idea is to keep the mixture chunky. Afterall, you didn't plunk down top dollar for super lump crab meat only to turn it into mush.
Place the mixing bowl and contents in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up. After refrigeration, drain off any excess liquid.
Gently press mixture into thick patties (slightly smaller than hamburgers) and lightly coat them using the remaining cracker crumbs. Don't compact the cakes like you would hamburger; keep them a bit loose. Just enough pressure to make the mixture hold together. Fry the cakes slowly in butter at low to medium-low heat in an uncovered fry pan or griddle, turning when the first side is brown.
Salt lightly and enjoy. You can eat them plain, or serve them with Old Bay Seasoning or a remoulade sauce. If you need more kick, serve with a good hot sauce. Makes about 6 - 8 cakes.
I like to present my cakes atop a bed of wild rice. Sort of a Minnesota-Maryland connection, if you will.
Alternate serving suggestion: for those who cannot eat shellfish, good canned red salmon can be substituted for the crab, making very tasty salmon cakes.
