The Crab is a staple of Maryland Cuisine. The crab is everywhere in Maryland. It’s on stickers, t-shirts, hats, tattoos, and most importantly, among other things, it’s in our food.
My first experience with crab/crab meat (NOT CRABS YOU PERVS) was when I was 12 years old. My parents really did not know much about crabs or how to prepare them, so we never really got to try them at home. Luckily, I had cousins. Cousins who moved to Annapolis, MD. And these said cousins had a non-Iranian mom and a Dad who knew how to cook, so crabs were plentiful all of a sudden once they moved to Annapolis. I vividly remember catching crabs (wow I can’t even go two sentences without laughing) with chicken necks off of the dock.
So when it came down to eating crabs, my cousins would do a big crab feast with all the crabs they caught off of their dock. Since then, I actively seek out crab meat when I can, and jump at the chance to cook it.
The crab cake, in my opinion, is one of the more satisfying ways to eat crabs. Picking crabs is okay, but I’m always sick of it by the fourth or fifth crab and my hands start to burn from all the Old Bay. The crab cake has a nice rich flavor and is very satisfying. Recently, I was at a crab feast and there were probably about 10 crabs left over (Free Crab Meat! #CrabmeatisEXPENSIVE!). So I picked all the meat and made these crab cakes. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients
10 crabs worth of crab meat picked (or just buy some crab meat at the grocery store). For crab cakes I think backfin meat is better than the claw.
1/2 Cup of Mayo (I use this brand because it’s low in sugar and other garbage)
1/2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
1 Egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. Old Bay
1 Tbsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 Tsp. Paprika
1 Tsp. Thyme
1 Tsp. Dried Parsley
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
4 Tbsp. Butter
For the Old Bay Aioli (Mix 1 Tbsp of Mayo, 1 Tsp. Olive Oil, 1 Tsp. Lemon Juice, 1 Tsp. Old Bay)
2 Cups of Chopped/Peeled Sweet Potatoes
Method
Step 1: Mix the crab meat with the mayo, breadcrumbs, the beaten egg, Old Bay, pepper, paprika, thyme, dried parsley, and lemon juice
Step 2: Work the mixture slightly with a spoon or your hands so it’s mixed. But be careful not to overwork it, you want to make sure you still have some nice big lumps of crab meat.
Step 3: Set the mixture in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes to allow everything to congeal and settle.
Step 4: Start forming the crab cakes, depending how big you want the crab cakes you can make them big or small. I would recommend a happy medium size (about the diameter of your palm), too big a crab cake will be unwieldy and will most likely fall apart.
Step 5: In your pan, again I use a cast iron but you can use whatever you want, heat the butter until it begins to foam (be sure not to burn it). You can start to pan fry the crab cakes in the butter so you get a nice brown on the bottom. Once the bottom begins to brown, I suggest putting them in the broiler for about 1 minute to get a slightly crisp top. Keep an eye on your crab cakes so the broiler does not burn them.
To make your crispy sweet potatoes, parboil them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Pull them out once a fork can go through them, but make sure the fork won’t completely break the sweet potato in half. Then pull the sweet potatoes out with a slotted spoon or fork. Place them on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil/season with salt and bake in your oven for 20-30 minutes depending on how crispy you like them.
Enjoy!
P.S. if you take out the beaten egg, this stuff can be eaten almost like a crab salad, it’s really tasty.
- 10 crabs worth of crab meat picked (or just buy some crab meat at the grocery store). For crab cakes I think backfin meat is better than the claw.
- 1/2 Cup of
- Mayo
- (I use this brand because it’s low in sugar and other garbage)
- 1/2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 2 Tbsp.
- Old Bay
- 1 Tbsp. Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp. Paprika
- 1 Tsp. Thyme
- 1 Tsp. Dried Parsley
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 4 Tbsp. Butter
- For the Old Bay Aioli (Mix 1 Tbsp of Mayo, 1 Tsp. Olive Oil, 1 Tsp. Lemon Juice, 1 Tsp. Old Bay)
- 2 Cups of Chopped/Peeled Sweet Potatoes
- Step 1: Mix the crab meat with the mayo, breadcrumbs, the beaten egg, Old Bay, pepper, paprika, thyme, dried parsley, and lemon juice
- Step 2: Work the mixture slightly with a spoon or your hands so it’s mixed. But be careful not to overwork it, you want to make sure you still have some nice big lumps of crab meat.
- Step 3: Set the mixture in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes to allow everything to congeal and settle.
- Step 4: Start forming the crab cakes, depending how big you want the crab cakes you can make them big or small. I would recommend a happy medium size (about the diameter of your palm), too big a crab cake will be unwieldy and will most likely fall apart.
- Step 5: In your pan, again I use a cast iron but you can use whatever you want, heat the butter until it begins to foam (be sure not to burn it). You can start to pan fry the crab cakes in the butter so you get a nice brown on the bottom. Once the bottom begins to brown, I suggest putting them in the broiler for about 1 minute to get a slightly crisp top. Keep an eye on your crab cakes so the broiler does not burn them.
- To make your crispy sweet potatoes, parboil them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Pull them out once a fork can go through them, but make sure the fork won’t completely break the sweet potato in half. Then pull the sweet potatoes out with a slotted spoon or fork. Place them on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil/season with salt and bake in your oven for 20-30 minutes depending on how crispy you like them.
- Enjoy!
- P.S. if you take out the beaten egg, this stuff can be eaten almost like a crab salad, it’s really tasty.
