Broiled Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes, when done well, are tender, delicate, meaty (vs. bready), and flavorful.  Because crab cakes developed regionally there is no one definitive recipe, and like with chili, there are no shortages of strong opinions on the matter.  Basically, however, all that matters is that it tastes good to you.  Some key points, or guiding principles, are a crab cake should taste like crab.  It would seem like this is a no-brainer, but crab flavor can be subtle. Over seasoning can mask the flavor rather than enhancing it leaving you with a crab cake that taste more like the seasoning. 

Another issue that crops up is breadiness.  While it is possible to create crab cakes without bread filler, most recipes, and therefore most of us will use breadcrumbs, or crushed crackers.  There are preparations that use shrimp, or lower grade crabmeat as filler.  Additional egg can be used as well to bind the crab meat together. Breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs, however, if used properly can result in delicious crab cakes.  The key there is to only add enough to aid in binding.  The goal is not to stretch the crabmeat. If more crab cakes are needed, then buy more crabmeat!

Crabmeat comes in various grades in the order of high to low grade is Jumbo Lump, to Claw.  The Nibble has a good primer on crabmeat grades.  When shopping for crabmeat you can skip the expensive Jumbo Lump or Lump and go with Backfin or Special.  Claw crabmeat is not a good choice.  The crabmeat you, buy however, should be refrigerated and not the shelf-stable canned crabmeat. Shelf-stable crabmeat tastes flat and often metallic.    This preparation uses backfin crabmeat and panko breadcrumbs. Panko is a type of breadcrumb and it is often found in the Asian food aisle.  It is made without the crust resulting in a lighter breadcrumb that in turn contributes to a lighter and less bready crab cake.  While mayonnaise is pretty standard, if you don’t like mustard, then you can omit it. Further if you would like to use Old Bay brand seasoning, then please omit the salt. The addition of herbs, spices and vegetables are at your discretion.

Ingredients:

1 egg

16 oz of Backfin or Special crabmeat

¼ cup panko breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt*

¼ teaspoon pepper

* ½ teaspoon of Old Bay brand seasoning can be added, but omit the salt.

Step One:

Place a dinner plate in the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Step Two:

In a large bowl scramble the egg. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well.

Step Three:

Retrieve the plate from the freezer. Form equal sized crab cakes from the crab mixture, and then place the crab cakes on the plate.  There should be enough for 4 to 5 crab cakes. Place the plate with the crab cakes in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Step Four:

Remove the crab cakes from the freezer and place them on a cookie sheet. On a center rack bake the crab cakes for 10 minutes.

Step Five:

Move the cookie sheet to a higher rack and broil until the crab cakes are golden, roughly 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from crab cakes from the broiler, and let them stand for 1 minute.