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.
As usual, this look so delicious and your pictures are amazing!
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Thank you Lyn for such a lovely comment! 🙂
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Beautiful as ever. Crab is such a terrific thing to eat anyway but stunning as crab cakes
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Thank you Philip! 🙂
I agree, crab is indeed such a wonderful food. I also love it in quiche, which I plan to make and photograph soon.
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They look so tempting and deilcious…
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Thank you Swapna! They were indeed quite delicious, so I’m happy to share this recipe. 🙂
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Looks delicious Ronit. Funny you are making crab cakes, have just arrived in Virginia and am getting to sample the local variety…quite different from the ones I had at Sag Harbour.x
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Thank you Anna! Yes, there are so many tasty variations.
I’m glad you’re enjoying them all. 🙂
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They look delicious! I love fish cakes in general, but your version with added vegetables are something more!
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Thank you Teo! 🙂
I do love to add colorful and fresh vegetables to the cakes. It really adds so much.
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I can always pick out your food blog because of the wonderful presentation.
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Thank you Paul!
I love colors, so try to use them as much as I can with food as well. 🙂
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What do you suppose would be the interaction if some shreds of a dry-ish cheese (Asiago?) were incorporated into the mix? Would it make a mess, or just meld into the crumbs?
Virtual hugs,
Judie
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I’ve never tried, but can’t see why it can’t work – as long as you reduce the amount of salt, as you already have the capers and anchovies, which are quite salty.
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Crab cake looks like a great starter..looks yum
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Thank you Vidya! 🙂
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Wow! that looks so tempting!
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Thank you Freda! 🙂
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I love crab cakes and your version looks absolutely mouth watering! I like the addition of the veggies in there- great pictures, as usual!
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Thank you Sandhya! I love the addition of vegetable as well. 🙂
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They look so inviting and so flavorful too, Ronit! 🙂
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Thank you Linda. It is one of my favorite versions. 🙂
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I love crab cakes and always have some in the freezer to take out for a quick meal. I like your addition of shrimp – another favorite. Will have to give this a try as one of my errands is shopping at Whole Foods. Thanks for sharing…
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Thank you Judi. This version is a favorite. I hope you’ll enjoy it too. 🙂
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love, love, crab cakes. they are a popular item around here and made as many different ways as there are restaurants
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Thank you Eddie for your feedback. You’re lucky to have this many options for the dish! 🙂
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good fortune plays a role in everyone’s life
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Ronit, I so agree that sometimes crab cakes can be a bit bland, which is such a shame! Love the flavors you used here 🙂
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Thank you Mary! I know that “crab cakes purists” do not agree, but I’m glad you liked the idea. 🙂
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They look delicious and tempting 🙂 🙂
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Thank you Sabitha! 🙂
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These look lovely! I really dislike seafood cakes that are pure mush.
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Thank you! I agree, seafood cakes have to have some texture other than mush! 🙂
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So pretty and colourful! Looks like a great version with lots of nice stuff in there! Yum.. 🙂
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Thank you Lili. 🙂
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I like your addition of capers and anchovies.
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I love these two ingredients together. I also add them to tomato salads.. 🙂
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The crab cakes look wonderful. I’ve only ever tried to make crab cakes two or three times in my entire life–and each time I’ve had trouble with them falling apart when I fried them. Based on what you wrote, I’m thinking that I may have stirred the ingredients together too vigorously. I’ll have to try this recipe.
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Thank you Sheryl. I’m glad you liked the recipe.
The cakes mixture is supposed to be loose, but not to the point where the cakes break when frying. That’s why it’s important to let it sit for 20 minutes before frying.
In this recipe, the ground shrimps also help to keep the cakes together.
I hope you’ll enjoy the results. I’ll be happy to hear your comments.
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This looks terrific ronit. I need a bite now. Hehe. 🙂
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Thank you Priti for such a nice compliment. 🙂
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They are lovely ronit. Who wouldn’t want a bite? Hehe. 🙂
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As I say, if someone doesn’t, then there’s more for me! lol
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Hahaha. . 🙂
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Ronit, your crab cakes look really good. Do you think I could use crab meat from a tin for these as well since fresh picked crab is so hard to come by here?
Nicole xx
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Thank you Nicole! 🙂
Yes, good quality tin lump crab meat can definitely work.
Hope you’ll enjoy the results. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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That’s great news – I love crab cakes and your shrimp & peppers combo sounds really nice – can’t wait to try them now! Thank you. N xx
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My pleasure! 🙂
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Yumm!
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Thank you, and thanks for re-blogging! 🙂
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Reblogged this on dawns-ad-lib.com® and commented:
Too DELICIOUS!
A must SAVE & share recipe!
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So appetizing!
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Thank you Flora! 🙂
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Will absolutely be trying these out! YUM!
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Thank you! I hope you’ll enjoy the results. I’ll be happy to hear your comments.
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I wish I could get these cakes for my today dinner! 😀 Can I omit green curry paste or add something instead?
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Thanks Mila for a great compliment! 🙂
As for the green chili paste, I only use a bit, to give the cakes an extra kick. It contains mainly green chili, cilantro, garlic and ginger, so you can make your own mix, or replace it with any other flavorings you have in mind. It’s a very versatile recipe and even I change it often. 🙂
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And instead of mayo-can I use sour cream? or may be sour cream with mustard? Because I consume mayo very rare, but sour cream is almost all the time in my fridge
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I’ve never tried, but I think it can work, as the amount of mayo is not that big here. Good luck! 🙂
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The shrimp cakes looks so delicious. I am drooling right now!
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That’s the biggest compliment. Thank you! 🙂
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The combination of crab meat with shrimps is definitely delicious.
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Thank you Sylvia, I’m glad you liked the combination. I worked very well together. 🙂
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Reblogged this on mamabatesmotel.
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