Crab Cakes With Thai Sweet Chili Sauce & Marinated Cucumber

This is the recipe I made while on our Holland America Panama Canal cruise. There was a Culinary Arts Class, In groups we made a full meal, my group made these delicious crab cakes and sauce and marinated cucumbers. It was sooo fun and our efforts were served to us in the Pinnacle Restaurant on board the Statendam cruise ship. The menu was: Starter - Dungeness crab cakes with Thai sweet chili sauce and marinated cucumbers. Main course - Chicken with fresh apricots, ginger and cracked almonds - served with a custard sauce. (Vegetables on the side) Two Desserts - Grand Marnier Chocolate volcano cake or Vanilla souffle Several choices of white and red wines. It was a wonderful experience, the instructor was the Executive Chef of the Pinnacle

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• CRAB CAKES

• 1⁄3 cup celery, finely diced
• 1⁄3 onion, finely diced
• 1⁄3 red bell pepper, diced
• 1  cup  dungeness crabmeat, picked over and well drained
• 1  egg
• 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
• 1⁄2 lemon, juice of
• 1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1  tablespoon chives, chopped
• 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 1⁄2 cups panko breadcrumbs, more as needed (or bread crumbs)
•  salt and black pepper

• THAI SWEET CHILI SAUCE

• 1⁄2 ounce ginger, fresh minced
• 1⁄4 ounce garlic, minced
• 1⁄2 fluid ounce white wine vinegar
• 2  fluid ounces lime juice, fresh
• 12  fluid ounces sake
• 4  fluid ounces heavy cream
• 12  fluid ounces unsalted butter, cold and cut in chunks
• 2  fluid ounces  Thai sweet chili sauce
•  salt and white pepper

• MARINATED CUCUMBERS

• 1  cucumber, shaved on spiral slicer (or sliced thinley on mandoline)
• 1⁄2 quart vinegar, white
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup salt
• 1  tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1  tablespoon allspice

Directions

1. CRAB CAKES.
2. Mix all ingredients well and adjust seasoning to taste. Use icecream scoop to shape into cakes; bread with panco crumbs.
3. Place cakes on sheet pans sprinkled with dry panko crumbs; wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
4. THAI SWEET CHILI SAUCE.
5. In a heavy sauce pan over medium high heat, combine ginger, garlic, vinegar, lime juice and sake. Reduce to a light syrup (90%), add cream and reduce to 60% over medium heat, being careful not to scorch. Reduce heat to low and gradually whip in the cold butter chunks. Whisk in chili sauce, salt and pepper.
6. MARINATED CUCUMBERS.
7. Mix all the ingredientes together bring to a boil, remove from heat and chill.
8. ASSEMBLY.
9. Saute crab cakes in a non stick saute pan until golden on each side and heated through; drain on paper towels.
10. Arrange crab cakes on plate, drizzle with chili sauce.
11. Pile high with marinated cucumbers, sprinkle with chopped chives; or alternately serve the marinated cucumbers beside the crab cakes on the plate.