Crab Cakes Recipes

Ingredients

500 g fresh or frozen crab meat

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ small onion, chopped

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt flakes

1 teaspoon hot paprika

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 spring onion, sliced

2 slices firm white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

60 g butter

Method:

1. Pick over the crab meat to remove any bits of shell and cartilage, being careful not to break up the lumps of crab.

2. heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the onion without colouring for 5 minutes. remove the pan from the heat and cool.

3. Whisk together the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, salt, paprika, pepper and cooled onion.

4. Gently mix in the crab meat, spring onion and torn bread. at this stage the mixture will be quite wet.

5. Press the mixture into 6 even-sized crab cakes, each one 2 cm thick. line a tray or dinner plate with plastic wrap and sprinkle with half of the bread crumbs. set the crab cakes in one layer on the top of the crumbs and sprinkle with the remaining bread crumbs. cover the crab cakes loosely with more plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour. This is important to help set and hold the crab cakes together when cooking.

6. Melt the butter and the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium–high heat until the butter begins to foam. Cook the crab cakes until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.

HINTS AND TIPS:

* You will need—cutting board, cook’s knife, bowl, cup, spoon and weight measures, wooden spoon and sauté pan.

* Crab cakes are an American favourite. They can be as simple as fresh crab meat, bread crumbs, eggs and seasoning to something a bit more complex. They can be grilled, baked, pan-fried or deep-fried.

* Make the crab cakes smaller and serve as an appetiser or finger food at your next party. Make them well ahead of time and panfry once the guests arrive.

* Serve crab cakes with aïoli or tartare sauce as well as a simple green salad.

* To reduce the fat content, spray the crab cakes with oil and pan-fry instead of cooking in butter and oil as mentioned.

* Crab meat is readily available at most fish shops. Always pick over the crab meat as often it has bits of shell in it.

* The best option is to cook and pick over the crab yourself to guarantee freshness.