Crab Cakes

One of the really missed food for me is the Mud Crab, luckily there is the Dungeness Crab. They are just as good, huge but expensive but it is worth the price cos the frozen ones have never met my satisfaction. Many commercially cooked crabs (and lobsters) are overcooked.

For a perfect crab, plunge it into a large pot of rapidly boiling, heavily salted water or steam the crabs. Cook/steam only until white foam appears at the joints, which indicates the meat is cooked. Remove it from the pot immediately and allow it to cool.

How can you choose a meaty crab? As if we have a choice, except for you lucky people who are in South East Asia, you know what i mean, but anyway - most crabs in general should feel heavy for their size. If the shell feels papery, the crab hasn't filled out yet.

A Dungeness crab at its prime is dark brown to purplish. Look for dark color. Light-colored arms indicate a crab that has just molted. A goodly amount of water is trapped inside the shell, so if the crab is weighed wet, and that is generally the way it is done,we are paying for water - $5.99 a pound.

Keep in mind that meat accounts for about 25 percent of the weight of a whole crab, so to have 1 pound of meat for this recipe, you would have to purchase 4 pounds live crabs.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. onion, chopped

1 tbsp. parsley, chopped

1 tsp. butter

1/2 c. Club crackers, crushed

2 tbsp. mayonnaise

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tbsp. heavy cream

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. salt(optional)

1/4 tsp. white pepper

Dash of hot pepper sauce

1 lb. crabmeat

Dry bread crumbs

Vegetable oil


Method:

Cook onion and parsley in butter until tender in small skillet.

Combine cracker crumbs, mayonnaise, egg, cream, Worcestershire, lemon juice, salt, pepper and hot sauce in large bowl.

Stir in onion mixture and gently stir in crabmeat.

Shape into 6 patties. Coat with bread crumbs.

Cook patties in hot oil until lightly brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Do not flip cakes before it is browned.

Serves