I haven’t had a crabcake of any description since I was a kid, but it popped into my head at work today that I’d really like a nice big crabcake with remoulade for dinner one night soon. Alas, the store I work at doesn’t sell crabcakes, and it occurs to me that any store-bought crabcake is probably going to be made with imitation crab anyway, so my options are to drop a buttload of cash at a seafood restaurant, or make them myself.
Since I like to think I’m a fairly decent home cook, I choose the latter. Anyone got a recipe they swear by that they’d be willing to share? (Bonus points if you’ve also got a homemade remoulade recipe.)
Not crab cakes but fishcakes. Maybe this will give you some ideas. Frozen salmon, without bones or skin. In the morning (for dinner that evening) or the night before (for lunch the next day), rinse the frozen salmon under hot water to melt the coating of ice, squeeze between palms to eliminate excess water (or pat dry with paper towels) and thaw completely in refrigerator (I use a “Tupperware” container with a lid). When ready for preparation, rinse and dry again, chop fine with a knife and set aside. Beat one egg for every two fishcakes and add to chopped salmon along with bread crumbs, chopped parsley, soy sauce, dill and herbes de Provence. Mash and mix well with a fork. If the mixture is gloopy, add more bread crumbs. Oil a non-stick skillet and, using your hands (oil them, too), form the fishcakes and fry ‘em for a few minutes on each side. I eat them for dinner in toasted ciabatta with tomato, lettuce, mayo and a few dots of mustard. It’s actually “glass bread” (also called crystal bread), square in shape, about the size of a hamburger bun.
I occasionally make homemade crabcakes similar to this recipe. But, I usually just buy frozen Dockside Classics Premium Crab Cakes (12 oz, 4 Count) when on sale for under $8. They are darn tootin’ good. Just avoid anything that lists “krab” as an ingredient. Similarly, don’t buy American cheese named “cheese product” when you want the real deal—the outer wrapper tastes better than what’s inside.
When I make my weekly seafood medley (crab cakes, coconut shrimp, beer-battered cod/catfish/or flounder) with a side of hush-puppies and slaw, I serve it with a medley of dipping sauces (cocktail, sweet chili, and Chipotle Bitchin’ Sauce).
You don’t have to tell me twice about that. There are times when imitation crab is useful. I actually prefer it in sushi rolls to real crab, and last year I had a cold seafood roll that was equal parts lobster, shrimp, and surimi, that was pretty delish.
I definitely want real crab for my crabcake, though, and there’s a seafood market not far from my house that sells fresh Dungeness crabmeat at a price which is high but reasonable, so that’s what I’m gonna be using.
Throw in some battered halibut and you’ll have me begging for an invitation.
I make typical crab cakes with bread crumbs and Old Bay. However, my wife found a recipe for crab cakes on a box of cornbread Stove Top stuffing. I made them one day and they’re quite good. Not exactly the same thing as Baltimore style made from bread or crackers, somewhat denser, but still good. The recipe calls for 2 six oz. cans of crab meat. Instead I use half the mix with 8 oz. of fresh packed crab meat. White lump crab meat is good, but also a subtle flavor. For crab cakes I find claw meat at half the price is just as good, better than some lump. Avoid canned or packaged crab meat labeled simply as ‘White’, at best it’s tiny bits of meat, at worst it will be mush.
Also, I have heard, and believe, there is a special place in hell for people who make crab cakes with imitation crab meat.
I have a crabcake recipe that’s sort of my own combination of various recipes I’ve tried over the years, that is one of Mrs. solost’s favorite things I make. She’ll specifically ask me to make it a few times a year.
Crabcake Ingredients:
1 lb. fancy lump crabmeat (the kind in a sealed can in the refrigerated section)
1/2 each of a green and red pepper
1-2 stalks celery
couple cloves of garlic
about 1/2 a medium yellow onion
breadcrumbs
1 egg, plus the white of a second egg (the yolk goes into the sauce)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
splash of Thai fish sauce (optional)
juice of 1 lemon
thyme
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil, plus clarified butter and/or peanut oil
Mustard Sauce Ingredients:
couple tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
about 1/2 cup chicken stock
red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Crabcakes:
Finely mince up peppers, celery, onion and garlic, or run through food processor to make a fine mirepoix. Saute in a pan with olive oil until softened up. Let cool a bit.
In a large bowl, add crabmeat, mirepoix, and all other ingredients except breadcrumbs and eggs. Mix, adding just enough breadcrumbs to hold crabcakes together and no more. It’s a crabcake, not a crab-flavored breadcake!
I add the eggs last so I can taste the mix at this point to see if it needs any salt or any other seasoning. Sometimes I add a little fish sauce for extra umami. When satisfied with the seasoning, add the raw egg in.
I make 4 large crabcakes out of this mixture. More smaller ones can be made if desired. Spread breadcrumbs on a plate, form the crabcakes and coat them in breadcrumbs.
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or iron skillet large enough to hold crabcakes. I use a high smoke point oil at this point. A mix of peanut oil and clarified butter is good. Brown crabcakes on medium-high heat on one side. Carefully flip-- using two spatulas, one on each side, helps to flip without falling apart. Brown other side.
Transfer crabcakes to a foil-lined, non-stick sprayed cookie sheet and add to oven to finish. I use a meat thermometer to ensure internal temp reaches around 160.
Sauce:
While the crabcakes are finishing. Add all ingredients except olive oil to blender and mix well.
Then, with blender on low setting, slowly and carefully pour in olive oil to make an emulsion.
Add sauce mix to a large pan (I use the same pan for mirepoix, crabcakes and sauce, cleaning it out between steps). Put heat on low and stir constantly until sauce thickens up and sticks to spoon. Be very careful to keep mixing and not to overheat, or sauce may break-- emulsion will separate. Sauce will still taste good, but will look weird. If sauce does start to break, you may be able to ‘rescue’ it by putting it back in blender.
I usually serve with a simple green vegetable side like asparagus or broccoli, with a small amount of sauce sort of swirled onto the plate. With extra sauce in a bowl to add as desired. Enjoy!
A friend of mine is a crab-cake aficionado. His first time at a restaurant he will order their crab-cakes. Not on the menu? He wouldn’t be there. He keeps a journal where he rates each place’s crab-cakes.
I don’t get it. Sure, I like crab-cakes. But any decent restaurant makes crab-cakes that (to me) are indistinguishable from any other decent restaurant’s crab-cakes.
I’ve heard Gordan Ramsey will order crabcakes if it’s on a restaurant’s menu, as a litmus test of how good the restaurant is overall. I suspect it’s similar to making scrambled eggs or a roast chicken-- seemingly simple; yet it’s easy enough to make a mediocre version, but it takes skill to make it really good.
There are a few different seasoning styles and general type of ‘cake’ for crab cakes. Most high end restaurants I’ve been to use the classis Baltimore style, large loose crumbs, lump crabmeat, and mixed slightly spicy seasonings, baked in roundish stack with a stylish presentation. I prefer a Louisiana remoulade for a sauce, but there’s plenty of room for many others. Crab cake sandwiches are delicious too, but a fried crabcake patty works better than a restaurant style cake. I’m sure there are plenty of other seasoning styles just as good.
I guess it’s a good measure of a restaurant. It’s not something that’s overly complicated to cook, or needs exotic ingredients, no special cutting skills or specialized tools required. For me, I like crab cakes and I’m more likely to return to a restaurant that has good crab cakes. They’re very likely to be the same quality every time I visit.
The Duck Inn in Virginia Beach closed a few years ago, and this is proported to be their recipe. This serves a whole army, though.
Servings: 10 pounds
10 lbs. lump crab meat
4 oz. minced yellow onion
2.5 lbs. mayo
1.25 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
15 eggs
3/4 cup mustard
15 oz. Japanese bread crumbs
5 oz, milk
Combine all ingredients except crab meat in mixing bowl
Mix at low speed 2 minutes. Scrape sides, mix an additional minute.
Place crab meat in large bowl.
Gradually add wet mix to crab meat, careful not to break meat.
That’s more of less how I make them. Lifelong Marylander (and OG Clutch fan). There should be as few ingredients as possible, and the ratio of crab:everything else should be as much in the favor of the crab as possible without them just falling apart.
I used to live in Virginia Beach and LOVED Duck Inn. So sad when they closed.
When I make crab cakes, I use Mark Bittman’s recipe. More crab, less cake. Make sure to chill thoroughly, as he says.
This is my remoulade recipe - note that it uses a raw egg yolk, so not everyone might be comfortable with that. I know in some places you can buy pasteurized eggs, or you could just replace the yolk and the oil with jarred mayo. I consider the capers optional.
Rémoulade
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon Louisiana-style hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
dash ground white pepper
1 teaspoon minced capers
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh Italian parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg yolk and Dijon mustard until egg is broken up and evenly blended. Continue whisking and slowly add oil by pouring it down the side of the bowl in a thin stream. (You can use a food processor for this).
Once all the oil is added, whisk in Tabasco, Worcestershire, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until well incorporated.
Mix in capers, shallots, tarragon, and parsley until blended.
8 oz. - lump or claw crab meat
1 cup. - loose torn bread
1 amount that suits you - chopped parsley
1-2 tbsp - Old Bay seasoning+random choices
1-2 tsp - ground mustard|cayenne|smoked paprika
1 tsp or so - Worcestershire sauce
2 - eggs
4 tbsp - melted butter
1 tsp or less - red stuff like paprika|cayenne
Beat eggs. Stir in everything else. Spread out flat on parchment paper making a maybe 6"X6" square. Then spread crab meat over top. Fold over once using the paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Form 4 cakes and sprinkle with red stuff. Bake on the same or new piece of paper for 15 minutes or a little longer to brown at 375-400F depending on how the oven is behaving that day.
