Colorful Crab and Shrimps Cakes

Crab cakes have so many variations, but there is always room for one more. While I love the Maryland style crab cakes, which consist of mainly crab meat with a small amount of ingredients, sometimes I find them too bland and feel like adding other flavors to them.
Here is one of my variations, to which I’ve added scallions, celery and peppers, which add lots of color and flavor, along with seasoning such as capers and anchovies. I also added some ground shrimps, to add an additional layer of flavor and texture.
The cakes can be simply served with a lemon wedge, or on an English muffin or a bun. They also pair well with tomatoes, or an Arugula salad, with a quick mayonnaise dressing, with chopped peppers, capers, lemon juice and zest.
I hope you’ll try and enjoy this version, or use it as a base for your own version.

Note:
* It is important to mix the mixture gently, so that the crab lumps will not break.
* The mixture is quite soft, but make sure not to add more breadcrumbs, as otherwise you’ll end up with dense and heavy cakes. Remember that the ground shrimps also work as a biding agent, so will help with keeping the cakes together without the need to add more bread crumbs.

Makes: 10
Prep time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 20 minutes
Frying time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
For the cakes:
½ cup coarsely chopped mini peppers
1 Jalapeno pepper, deseeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup diced celery
5 scallions, chopped
1 Tbs fresh thyme
¾ cup fresh white bread crumbs (from 1 English muffin or 3 slices of bread, crust removed)
8 oz (225 grams) picked lump crab meat
½ cup ground shrimps (from 8-10 medium, fresh or frozen/thawed)
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp green curry paste
2 XL eggs
2 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs chopped capers
2 Tbs chopped anchovies
1 Tbs lemon zest
For coating and frying:
2 cups breadcrumbs
Oil

1. In a large bowl, mix all the cakes ingredients gently (to keep crab lump unbroken). The mixture will seem fairly loose, but don’t be tempted to add any more breadcrumbs, as it will result heavy and dense cakes.
Cover and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

2. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Create tennis balls size cakes from the mixture. Coat them gently (they will still be quite soft, but try not to pack them) with the breadcrumbs, flattening them gently.

3. Pour oil, about ½ inch (1¼ cm), into a large frying pan. Heat over medium-high heat and add the cakes, in one layer. Reduce the heat to medium and fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until both sides are golden brown and the inside well cooked. Transfer to a work space layered with paper towels, to absorbs some of the oil.

4. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges on the side, or any other serving suggestions shown here.