Chesapeake Bay Classic Crab Cakes

By mdyess

The traditional crabmeat to use in these Chesapeake Bay cakes is East Coast blue
crab. If you live on the West Coast, this recipe works just fine with Dungeness, but
you will probably need to squeeze out the excess liquid. If your Dungie tastes salty,
you may want to omit the salt in the recipe because there’s already salt in the Old
Bay Seasoning. (If you can’t get fresh crab, try the pasteurized crab sold in the
refrigerated case of your supermarket or fish store, which is NOT to be confused with
shelf-stable canned crab that is NOT refrigerated.) Traditionally, these cakes are
served with tartar sauce, but I prefer the tangy zip of green or red cocktail sauce to
offset their creaminess.

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• Makes 8 large crab cakes
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup peanut or canola oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp minced scallions, both white and green parts
• 1 lb lump blue crabmeat, drained and picked clean of shell
• 4 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 4 About 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• Red Cocktail Sauce
• Green Cocktail Sauce
• 4 lemon wedges

Preparation

Step 1

Method:
Put the egg yolk, Old Bay, mustard, lemon zest and juice, and vinegar in the bowl of
a food processor or a blender and process until smooth. Gradually pour in the oil with
the machine running until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Season
with the salt and pepper. (Note: This quantity of mayonnaise will not emulsify in the
bowl of the largest food processor. Use a medium food processor, a mini processor,
or a blender.)
Transfer the mayonnaise to a bowl and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the scallions
and the crabmeat until well combined. Combine the bread crumbs and the parsley in
a shallow container. Form the crab mixture into 8 patties about 3 inches wide and ¾
inch thick and drop them into the bread crumb-parsley mixture. Dredge the crab
cakes on both sides. If you have time, leave the crab cakes in the container of bread
crumbs, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for an hour or more.
2/
When you are ready to fry the crab cakes, put 2 large nonstick skillets over medium
heat. Add about 2 tablespoons butter to each pan. When the butter is melted, add 4
crab cakes to each pan, patting off excess crumbs first. Slowly fry the crab cakes
until they are golden brown on both sides and hot through, turning once with a
spatula, about 4 minutes per side. If the crab cakes are browning too quickly, reduce
the heat. The internal temperature of a cooked crab cake should be 155 F on an
instant-read thermometer.
Transfer the crab cakes to plates, 2 per person, and serve with your choice of sauce
and lemon wedges.
From: I Love Crab Cakes! by Tom Douglas
Published by William Morrow, 2006
Re-printed with permission
Broadcast on CBC Radio’s North by Northwest Cooking Club
www.cbc.ca/bc/cookingclub
Old Bay Seasoning
The classic Chesapeake Bay seasoning blend for steaming blue crabs contains celery
seeds, bay leaves, mustard, red pepper, and ginger, among other flavours. The
name “Old Bay” is now owned by McCormick brand.
Bread Crumbs, Fresh and Dried
Method
I make fresh bread crumbs from supermarket white sandwich bread. Tear the bread
into pieces (no need to remove the crusts since they’re so tender) and process to
fine crumbs in a food processor. Two slices of white sandwich bread make about 2
cups crumbs.
Red Cocktail Sauce
Yields: Approximately 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup ketchup or chili sauce, such as Heinz
1 tbsp + 2 tsp prepared horseradish
2 dashes Tabasco
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
3/
Green Cocktail Sauce
Yields: Approximately 2/3 cup
Ingredients
8 oz tomatillos, husked, rinsed, dried, and quartered
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp green Tabasco
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp mustard seeds, toasted
1 tsp peeled and grated fresh horseradish
Method
Put the tomatillos in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely pureed.
Remove the tomatillo puree to a sieve, drain off the liquid, and discard. Put the
drained puree in a bowl and stir in the vinegar, sugar, green Tabasco, garlic,
mustard seeds, and horseradish.