Lump Crab Cakes

Ok, ok, I know this is my fourth crab cakes recipe on this blog. What can I say? I like them! And not all crab cakes were created equal, that's for sure. And you know what? Making them at home is still so much cheaper than buying them at the restaurant. So you will continue to benefit from my recipe testing in the crab cake department, alright? 

Let me tell you a little story. I went to the store, looking for fresh lump crab meat. For the amount called for in this recipe, it was going to cost ~$40 for just the meat. I looked next to the fresh stuff on the shelf and there was the fake stuff. It never looks very appetizing, but at less than 1/4 the cost, I figured I'd give it a try. It was totally fine! The texture is a bit odd, I'll give you that, but if you do what my genius husband suggested and put the fake meat in the blender with the other ingredients, you'd never know the difference. 

• 2 lb fresh (or fake) jumbo lump crabmeat, drained and picked over
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped scallions (about 2 large scallions)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 1/2 cups panko, divided
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
• lemon wedges and remoulade sauce for serving 

Gently stir together crab, mayonnaise, scallions, lemon juice, eggs, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and 1 1/4 cups panko in a large bowl until combined. Form crab mixture into 12 (1-inch thick) patties (about a 1/2 cup per patty). Add remaining panko to a medium bowl; dredge crab cakes in panko to fully coat, patting to adhere. Freeze crab cakes in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 1 hour or up to 24 hours. If not cooking them now, transfer to a ziplock plastic bag and freeze for up to 6 months. 

When ready to cook, heat a skillet or Dutch oven over medium; add oil to a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat oil to 330-350 degrees. Working in batches, fry crab cakes until golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Serve hot with lemon wedges and remoulade sauce. 

NOTES: Making the crab patties was frustrating me for a while. Doug came along and, in addition to suggesting I use the blender on all the ingredients, also suggested I sort of roll out a big sheet of the crab mix and use a cookie cutter to shape the patties. Worked like a charm. 

As the recipe says, you can totally freeze these and make them later. I definitely did that over the weeks following the initial making of this recipe. It was nice to have something fairly simple on hand that I could whip up for myself. 

We used the Dutch oven to cook this because Doug and I are so done getting splashed with hot oil on our arms and also having to clean up hot oil when frying things in a skillet. The Dutch oven had higher walls so the mess was much less to clean up. 

Serves 6

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (with freezing)

Recipe from Ali Rosen in People Magazine