Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce
These make a great lunch, served with a salad
Yield: 12 crab cakes, each about 2 inches in diameter and ¾ inch thick
- 1 ½ lbs. fresh Dungeness crab meat
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup finely minced green onion, both white and green parts
- 1/4 cup very finely minced celery
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper or 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
- 1/4 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
- for browning the cakes:
- 1 cup fine, dry bread crumbs or Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- vegetable oil for cooking
Pick through the crab to be sure there are no bits of shell or cartilage. Mix with the remaining ingredients.
Spread dry crumbs on a plate. Divide crab mixture into 12 portions and form into cakes. Press into the crumbs, turning to coat top and bottom. Refrigerate for up to one day or cook immediately.
Heat a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high flame. When quite hot add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, swirling pan to coat. Add half the cakes. Cook about 2-3 minutes per side, turning once. They will be brown and crisp. Transfer to a plate, and keep warm while you cook remaining cakes. Wipe out pan, add remaining tablespoon oil before cooking second batch. Serve with the remoulade sauce.
Spicy Remoulade Sauce
Combine:
- 1/2 cup good mayonnaise (don’t use “low fat” because it’s too sweet)
- 1-inch piece dill pickle
- 2 tsp. drained small capers
- 1 scallion, in 1-inch pieces, or 1 shallot
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
- 2 tsp. prepared horseradish
- 1 tsp. chopped parsley
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. hot sauce (e.g. Tabasco)
- squeeze of lemon juice
Finely chop the pickle, capers and scallion by hand and combine with the remaining ingredients, or use on-off pulses of the food processor to combine.
