Another trip, another city, another restaurant, and another in a long line of disappointing Crab Cakes. Why do restaurants find it so difficult to produce a simple, satisfying appetizer that’s crunchy on the outside and, here’s the black hole, actually contains lumps of real crab? Not just the usual unknown particulate matter that every waiter proclaims is 90 percent crab, when you are sure the inverse ratio is a certainty. Does Sysco Foods sell Crab Cake Filler Dough? There’s a business opportunity, commercially packaged crab flavored oatmeal. Why not, that’s what most taste like, right?

Ok, enough ranting, let’s fix the problems that are; Not enough crab, poor taste/texture, and for the home cook they fall apart while cooking (the cakes not the cooks). I read that last one a lot and, like all of the other problems there’s a simple cure.

Let’s start at the beginning; out here in Northern California we have an excellent resource of sweet Dungeness Crab. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s Stone Crab from the Southeast, Blue Crab from the Northeast, King, Opilio, Red King, Blue King, Jonah, Spider, Rock or Bairdi. Whatever you have at your disposal, try and get it fresh. This may sound strange considering that when this blog posts Dungeness season will have officially closed here in NorCal. Oh well.

Many of the problems both of home cooks and restaurants begin with the water content of the crab meat. Frozen crab will inevitbly contain more water, diluting the flavor, ruining texture, and causing “disconcrabulation” (everything falls apart at one stage or another, yes I made that up and yes I’m proud of it). Compounding the problem, people start adding liquid flavor enhancements to their base. Lemon juice, Mayonaise, Worcestershire, and hot sauce are the usual cast of characters in an upcoming tragedy. So how do they resuscitate the mess? Bread or cracker crumbs and egg. And so begins the road to perdition. They have just turned the watery crab base into flavored swamp mud. Next they coat the outside of the mudpie with more crumbs until their fingers, and the “cake” are melded together like drying concrete. Then they hold breath as they cast the $6 goo-ball into a pan of superheated oil, fully expecting an, as of this moment, undisovered chemical reaction which causes hot oil, Worcestershire sauce, and Saltine crackers to form a perfectly symmetrical culinary masterpiece. Maybe next time, for now try this.

Recipe:

For The Base:

1 lb cooked lump crab meat

1 egg well beaten

2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (Dry)

2 Tbls chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1 Tbls Mayonaise

For the Coating:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup fine ground cornmeal

2 cups Panko Japanese bread crumbs (have extra on hand)

2 eggs beaten with a tablspoon of milk or water

Oil for frying

salt and pepper

Tools:

2-1/2 or 3 inch ring mold

If your crab has been frozen, place it in a clean kitchen towell and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. Don’t squeeze it to death, be gentle. A little water is good. Discard the liquid and place crab meat in a mixing bowl. Add the base ingredients except for the egg to the crab and gently mix by hand being careful not to break up the lumps of crab*. Taste for seasoning and adjust** if necessary. Add the beaten egg and work into the mix. Put the cormeal and flour/salt and pepper in one bowl, the two eggs in another and the Panko in a third. Form the crab mixture with your hands into 8-10 equal sized balls***. If to wet, squeeze some liquid out. One at a time, lay the balls in the flour and roll with a spoon until coated, then into the egg, and finally into the Panko. Use a spoon to help in coating and transferring the balls.

After coating, place on a small non-stick cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper then place in the freezer for 20 minutes until very firm. Remove from the freezer, repeat the coating process and return to the freezer for 10 minutes. Heat a small frying pan with about 3/8″ of oil in the bottom to medium. Place each crab ball in the ring mold and flatten with your hand until it looks like a large marshmallow (see picture). Drop some breadcrumbs into the oil, they should fizz immediately but not burn or pop.

Using a flat spatula, slide 1 or 2 into the pan, cook each side for about 1 minute until golden brown then roll them on their sides to carefully brown the sides. Roll them along like wheels as they brown. Remove to a paper towel covered plate and serve with your favorite sauce.

*You will have to break up the large pieces that won’t roll up into a ball later.

**The goal here is to have a crabcake that is flavorful and tastes like crab. Dipping sauces are where you can change flavor profiles later.

*** I use an ice cream scooper and pack it in first before rolling in my hands.