Fish - Asian Style Crab Cakes with Wasabi Caper Sauce

By stsavage

Ingredients

• For wasabi caper sauce
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons drained bottled capers, chopped
• 2 to 3 teaspoons wasabi paste (Japanese horseradish paste)
• For crab cakes
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped leek (white part only)
• 1 whole large egg plus 1 yolk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon spicy Chinese mustard
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped (1/3 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over
• 2 About 2 cups vegetable oil
• Special equipment: a deep fat thermometer

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Make wasabi caper sauce:
Stir together all sauce ingredients and chill, covered, until ready to use.

Make crab cakes:
Wash leek well in a bowl of cold water, agitating leek, then lift out and drain.

Whisk together whole egg, yolk, mayonnaise, and mustard in a large bowl, then stir in bell pepper, leek, ginger, and ¾ cup panko. Stir in crabmeat and chill, covered, 1 hour. Divide mixture into 8 mounds and form into 8 (1 inch thick) patties. Spread remaining ¾ cup panko in a shallow dish, then carefully coat patties, 1 at a time, in panko.

Heat ¾ inch oil in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until it registers 350°F on thermometer. (Adjust heat as necessary; see cooks' note, below.) Fry crab cakes in 2 batches, turning over once, until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to several layers of paper towels to drain. Return oil to 350°F between batches. Serve crab cakes with sauce.

Cooks' note: To take the temperature of a shallow amount of oil with a metal flat framed deep fat thermometer, put bulb of thermometer in skillet and turn thermometer facedown, resting other end (not plastic handle) against rim of skillet. Check temperature frequently.