Quintessential Crab Cakes

classic dishes

Quintessential Crab Cakes

by Joan Nathan

Give this recipe a try.

Lump Crab Cakes

Crab cakes are a Maryland institution, and the best are Maryland bred. The high priestess of crab cookery is Nancy Devine, who rules the Lexington Market in Baltimore. Her parents, who founded Faidley’s, sold only fresh fish and produce until the early 1970s when prepared foods started making their way into markets and Mrs. Devine decided to start selling her crab cakes. Through the years her recipe has changed slightly, but she has always made three different kinds of cakes from lump, backfin and claw meat for three different pocketbooks. Mrs. Devine would not give me her recipe but admits that the success of a good crab cake is in using your hands to mix the ingredients. She did, at least, share the ingredients; the rest I deduced by testing. It may not be Mrs. Devine’s exact recipe, but it is a pretty good second guess. The cakes have a crunchy exterior and moist interior. Mrs. Devine attributes the lightness to the addition of saltines, and the great taste to consistency and basic good home cooking.

Lump Crab Cakes

Lump Crab Cakes
High Cotton Food Styling & Photogrraphy

Printer Friendly Version

Do you like to print recipes and add them to your collection? You're in luck. Use our printer friendly version of this recipe.


Find more recipes with:
lump , crab , mustard , sauce , cakes
Ingredients
1 pound lump crab meat
1 cup crushed Saltine crackers
˝ cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
1 tablespoon each Dijon mustard and yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Vegetable oil for deep frying



Instructions
1. Spread crabmeat out on a flat pan and sprinkle crushed Saltines over the top.
2. In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, egg, mustards, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay Seasoning and Tabasco Sauce. Pour mayonnaise mixture over crabmeat; using your hands gently toss, taking care not to break up the lumps of crabmeat. Let mixture stand 5 minutes.
3. Form mixture into 6 mounded rounds about 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Do not pack the batter too firmly. This is very important. The cakes should be as loose as possible, yet still hold their shape.
4. Pour oil into a deep skillet and heat. Deep fry crab cakes a few at a time until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to paper towels to drain briefly. Serves 6.

Recipe by Joan Nathan, "Relish the American Table," July 9, 2006; "Relish a Classic Dish," August 2006.
Nutritional Information
Per serving: 310 calories, 22g fat, 16g prot., 9g carbs., 0g fiber, 590mg sodium.

Rate this Article

How would you rate this article? Click on the corresponding star to register your vote.

4.0
4.0 stars / 2 votes

Want to comment?
If you want to post a comment on this story, please visit our message boards.

Related Stories

If you enjoyed reading this story, Quintessential Crab Cakes, then you might enjoy these other stories.
Share This Story With Others:


Discuss this Article

There are no current discussions for this article. Why not be the first?

discuss this article Post your comments on this article

Recipes

Search for recipes. Enter an ingredient or keyword.

 

Recipes by Category

breakfast, lunch, dinner
dessert, snack, healthy

Recipes by Ingredient

beef, chicken, pork, poultry, turkey

newsletter & message boards

Fresh Recipes in your Inbox
Enjoy new meal ideas by signing up for our newsletter and see other recipe ideas in our past newsletters.


Swap Food Ideas
Share your favorite recipe or comment on our latest issue in our food & recipe message boards.

our new cookbook

relish cookbook
FROM OUR SISTER SITE
American Profile

where to find relish

Relish magazine is distributed monthly through newspapers across the country. To find a partner paper near you, take a look at our list of newspapers by state. If you local paper does not carry Relish, ask them why not?