Crab cakes: easier than you think, and maybe not cheaper

Ragazzi, Annalena is back from her annual excursion.  Oh, so much to tell.  To tell here, however, is that sadly, the food this time around very much underwhelmed her.  In the past, where Annalena lives, you would have seen one rave of a restaurant after another.  Not so, this year.  Perhaps 4 or 5 of the 12 have raves from Annalena.  The rest - to use  a word she favors - meh.  But the vacation itself, ragazzzi, was wonderful. One of the best.  You really must go if you haven't.

Now, let us turn to the matter at hand:  crab cakes.  Can we see a show of hands:  how many of you love them?

MMM  HMMM.  Just as Annalena thought.  And how many of you MAKE them?    Mmmm hmmm.  Again, as Annalena thought.  Truth to be told, Annalena had stopped making them herself because she would screw them up every single time.  And crab meat, carini, is expensive.  It is  WICKED expensive.  This is why you will frequently be disappointed when you buy crab cakes that are prepared and bring them home... they are all filler and no crab.  OR, you won't buy them, because they are HOW MUCH each?    So too, in restaurants, when you might get one as an appetizer, for 15.00 (if you are lucky), or 2 for 27, and find yourself still hungry.

Getting crab meat is very labor intensive.  And crabs do not yield much meat.  As far as Annalena knows, the dungeness crab, which averages about 2-2.5 pounds each, will yield about half a pound of meat if it's picked over very well.  Each of us can put away that much crab in a plate of crab cakes, without problem.  One day, sit with a big, cooked crab, and try to get out the meat.  Now, for those of you who are going to say   "but I always feel full after a crab boil," remember two things:  one, you are laughing, talking, having a good time when you go to one of these, and... melted butter?  On your fingers?  FILLING!!!!

So, ok, why should we make crab cakes?  Well, that is like asking why should we breathe?  Crab is sweet, and tasty, but is not a strong flavor.  You can make crab cakes carry any flavor you like.  For example, Annalena finds that most of the ones she gets outside, have a hot spicy flavor.  This is something she does not want in her crabcakes:  she wants the sweet flavor, perhaps with a bit of a green note, and that is it.  Each of you will have your own particular take on how you like them.  And you can make them the way you like them, as Annalena will explain.

She would also like to thank Nadia G, who made them on her show once, and was an inspiration.  Annalena learned so much about these from that show, she should have made them sooner.

Ok, so let's get to work.  You start with a pound of crab meat.  Frankly, whatever you can afford, is what you should use.  Annalena has a ton of frozen dungeness crabmeat on hand, which she used.  You can use lump, backfin, whatever you can get.  Most recipes are going to tell you to pick it over to remove shells.  Again, if you are worried, do, but Annalena has only one experience of finding a shell in her crab meat.

In order to get these buggers to hold together, they are going to need a binder.  Here,  Annalena used about a third of a pound of cooked, cooled potatoes, that she had mashed roughly.  She recommends this.  Remember that when you cook potatoes, you should always cook extra.    Also add one large egg, and half a cup of an unflavored breadcrumb.  Panko is particularly good here.  Annalena adds a good half cup of choopped parsley, and a squirt of honey mustard.  Use the herbs you like, or not at all, and the flavorings as well.  Here, you have freedom.  Taste, however, and see if you need salt.  Sometimes your crab meat will be salty, and sometimes it will not be.  Mix this all up evenly.


Get a baking tray, or a large plate ready, and cover it with more of your breadcrumbs/panko.  Get your hands into the mix, and work it gently ("Gently" is key here).  Take a good handful of the stuff, and shape it without packing it.  Make a ball of some size, but don't get too crazy.  You're going to be making eight of them.  After you make each one, coat them in the extra breacrumbs, and put them on another plate.  (This is more fun than you might think).

Here comes the key to success:  put the finished cakes in the fridge, for at least 3 hours.  Overnight if you can.  This helps them to cohere a bit, and frying them when cold, will prevent some break up.    To cook them, put about a quarter cup of vegetable oil in a  non stick pan, and when it's hot, add four of them.

Keep in mind that the only thing here that isn't already cooked is the egg, so you don't need much cooking time.   Maybe 3 minutes to a side, over medium heat.  Move the cooked cakes to a paper towel to drain fat, and repeat with the last four.

If you have made fat, small ones, you may want to put these in the oven for about ten minutes, at 325 or so, because the crab at the center will not necessarily warm up enough for you.    But they're ready.  You can make your own tartar sauce, or just use slices of lemon or, as Annalena has discovered, something like mango salsa works really well too.   Indeed, this is a place to use some of those sweet sauces someone gave you that you have no idea what to do with.

This meal will not be cheap.  It may, in fact, be more than you're used to spending on crab cakes when you buy them outside.  But try it once and then ask yourself:  was it better?  Annalena thinks you will agree it was, and it is not much work.