Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

There are not a lot of dishes as yummy as crab cakes, especially when you can get quality large-lump crab meat. I've found it at Costco, and most recently, at a large Safeway supermarket. If you can find fresh crab meat where you live, great! We can’t, because we don’t have yummy crabs in Hawaii.

The secret to good crab cakes is not to use a lot of breadcrumbs. Unlike crab dip, where you want the crab to spread out, with crab cakes you want them to hold together. And what’s a good crab cake without a good remoulade sauce?

My recommendations: (1) Make the remoulade first, at least an hour, preferable two to three hours, ahead of time so you can let the flavors blend in the refrigerator. (2) Mix and form the crab cakes at least a half-hour, preferably a full hour, before cooking, so they won’t fall apart in the pan.

Here’s how I make the cakes and accompanying sauce.

Crab Cakes: Ingredients 

• LUMP CRAB MEAT, 1 pound, as fresh as you can get it
• PANKO BREAD CRUMBS, 3 heaping tablespoons
• ITALIAN PARSLEY, 3 teaspoons, fresh,  chopped into a course mince
• KOSHER SALT and FRESHLY-GROUND PEPPER to taste
• EGG, 1 beaten
• MAYONNAISE, ¼ cup
• GROUND DRY MUSTARD (I use Coleman’s), 1 teaspoon
• (Optional) HOT SAUCE, 1-2 dashes (use your favorite; I use Tabasco)
• CANOLA OIL, 2 tablespoons 

Crab Cakes: Directions 

1. Mix together the crab meat, bread crumbs and parsley, then season with the salt and pepper.
2. Whip the egg in a bowl (act as though you’re making scrambled eggs).
3. Add in the mayonnaise, mustard and (optional) hot pepper sauce and blend well.
4. Pour the mayonnaise mixture into the crab mixture and mix well.
5. Form into patties and let them set in the refrigerator for a half-hour or so.
6. Preheat the oil in a heavy frying pan, and then fry one side of the refrigerated patties on medium-high heat for about three minutes per side or until golden brown and crisp.
7. Fry the other side and then broil for a few minutes until heated through. 

Remoulade: Ingredients 

• MAYONNAISE, 1 cup
• MUSTARD, yellow, ¼ cup
• SWEET PAPRIKA, 1 tablespoon
• PICKLE RELISH, 2 tablespoons
• CAPERS, 1 tablespoon, finely minced
• (Optional) HOT SAUCE, 5-6 dashes (use your favorite; I use Tabasco)
• (Optional) GARLIC, 1 clove, crushed and finely minced 

Remoulade: Directions 

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the flavors will marry.
2. Serve as a dressing for the hot crab cakes.

The remoulade is a great sauce for vegetables, and with seafood as a substitute for tartar sauce.