Crab Cakes from Maryland Governor's Kitchen

KateL's Note:

Diet-conscious Eastern-shore style, showcases the natural sweetness of Blue Claw Crabs with the minimum of filler and extra ingredients. Derived from MIL's newspaper clipping, her favorite crab cake with minimum of spice. This was from Maryland Governor Tawe's cook. For saltine crumbs, may substitute 2 slices of decrusted white bread broken into small pieces, or use 1/4 cup panko crumbs. I dared to vary from my mother-in-law's crab cakes by substituting saltine crackers for the traditional white bread and then serve her a "renegade" cake; this one variation was deemed by her as possibly better. She sneered at the addition of Old Bay seasoning. It is vital to have freshly steamed blue claw crab meat to achieve superior results. If you are not so fortunate as to live between North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and you use Phillip's crab meat from Costco, be aware that you are using Asian blue swimming crab which lacks the sweetness; in that case, I would recommend adding 1/2-1 teaspoon dried horseradish and 1/2-3/4 teaspoon lemon juice to add some pizazz. I find that canola oil "falls off" the crab cakes, and prefer frying my crab cakes. Preparation time includes 1 hour refrigeration prior to cooking.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 6 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 6 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4-6

Yield: 4.0 cakes

• 1 lb crabmeat , picked clean
• ¼ cup saltine crumbs , about 5-6 crackers
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (optional)
• 2 egg whites , beaten stiff
• ½ cup canola oil , up to 1 cup to reach 1/4-inch oil in pan

Directions:

1. Pick through crab meat twice to remove cartilage or shell. Try not to break up lumps of Backfin. Keep crabmeat chilled during process by putting ice cubes in a large mixing bowl then placing a slightly smaller bowl inside to hold the picked meat. After the first picking, feel for missed cartilage while returning crab meat to the crab meat container. Chill crab meat until ready to mix.
2. Put saltine crackers in a mini-food processor and process to a fine crumb. Alternatively, tear slices of bread into small pieces and put in mixing bowl.
3. Add regular mayonnaise and yellow mustard to mixing bowl. For the Eastern Shore purists, the addition of Old Bay seasoning is controversial, but Baltimore residents won't call it a crab cake without some; one teaspoon adds a subtle taste.
4. Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into filler mixture.
5. Gently fold in reserved crab meat.
6. Make 4 to 6 cakes, pressed gently together. Chill covered in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to set cakes.
7. Fill frying pan to 1/4-inch with canola oil. Heat canola oil to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Gently place crab cakes in oil and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Use spatula (and fork, if necessary) to carefully turn crab cakes. Fry for another 2-3 minutes.
8. Drain oil from crab cakes on paper towels, then serve hot with some saltine crackers on the side.
9. TO BROIL: Since these crab cakes have the minimum amount of filler required to hold them together, you may broil them on a lightly oiled baking sheet (1 tablespoon oil) 4-6 inches away from the heat source until golden brown. If you use low-calorie mayonnaise, this would be the preferred way to cook the cakes.
10. TO MICROWAVE: Only use 1/2 tablespoon of oil to brush on a large flat plate. Microwave plate for 2 minutes on HIGH to heat oil. Place cakes on plate and microwave for 7 minutes on HIGH.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

I did cut the recipe in half for just the 2 of us, & making them this first time was more of a trial thing than anything else! We weren't disappointed at all ~ They were tasty & most satisfying, & now I look forward to having them again as a main dish! I'd also like to make them a bit smaller & serve them up as finger food for one of the monthly groups I host! Thanks so much for the recipe! [Tagged & made in Please Review My Recipe]

[bmcnichol]

I doubled the recipe for my family. I got 12 crabcakes. I followed the recipe as written other then I used two eggs instead of four egg whites. We thought they were good but could have used more seasoning.

[JPsBarbie]

These were very good true Maryland tasting crab cakes. I am thinking of using them as a stuffing for some mushrooms for an appetizer on Father's Day.