Crab Cakes recipe

Crab cakes are quick and easy to make and make a great change from fish cakes on the family menu. You can spice them up with some Indian spices or stick to the traditional recipe, just adding a dash of Worcestershire sauce to bring out the flavour. Served with tartare sauce for adults and tomato ketchup for kids, with maybe some new potatoes and salad on the side you have a delcious weekend lunch with very little effort.

If you are cooking your own fresh crab, pick through the meat carefully once cooked, discarding any shell and cartilage before you start. Most good fishmongers and online fish companies will sell it to you ready cooked and picked. Choose white crab meat or a mixture of white and brown for your crab cakes.

Recipe for Crab cakes

Ingredients
450g / 1lb white or mixed crab meat
100g/ 3oz dry breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Mix together the breadcrumbs, egg, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, mustard together in a bowl. Add the crab meat to the mixture with some salt and pepper and mix carefully, so as not to break up the flakes of meat too much. You may need a little more mayonnaise or another egg if the mixture is too dry to form easily into patties.

With your hands form the mixture into 6 or more patties. Put them on a plate and cover with clingfilm, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. If you’re in a hurry you can skip this stage but the cakes may not keep their shape so well.
Fry the crab cakes in oil or butter for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Serve immediately.

Alternative crab cake recipe
If you don’t have enough crab meat or just like the richness of the crab meat balanced with potato, you can substitute some of the crab meat with mashed potato. Usually two parts crab meat to one part potato is a good guide. Add a little chopped parsley too.

Other good things to add to your crab cakes:
•    A squeeze of lemon juice
•    A few drops Tabasco sauce
•    Substitute the mayonnaise with crème fraiche
•    Finely chopped onion or shallot
•    Chopped fresh herbs

Can’t get hold of fresh crab meat where you live? Why not eat out and savour the delicious crab cakes at The Living Room, Nottingham.