Top | Jes Burns

Charleston Blue Crab Cakes

(recipe, Jes Burns)

primary-image, l

Introduction

Maryland blue crab recipes often include mayonnaise and Old Bay seasoning. But my mother, who invented this recipe, does not approve of such additions.

Ingredients

1. 1 large egg
2. Crumbs from 2 slices of toasted white bread
3. 1½ Tbsp. olive oil
4. 1 Tbsp. melted butter
5. ¼ cup chopped onion, lightly sautéed
6. ¼ tsp. salt
7. ¼ tsp. pepper
8. 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
9. Hot sauce to taste (optional)
10. 2 cups blue crab meat, picked over and shells discarded

Steps

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly with a fork, then add all the remaining ingredients except the crab meat and mix to combine. Add the crab meat to the mixture and gently toss. (Mixture should just stick together; add milk if more moisture is needed.)
2. Lightly oil a frying pan. Make crab cakes by pressing handfuls of the mix into thick patties (about ¼ to ⅓ cup of mixture per cake). Lightly brown each cake (about two minutes per side) in the pan.
3. Serve with the hot sauces of your choice.

Note

Culinate editor's note: You can replace the cooked crab meat with other fatty fish, such as canned salmon. Crazy for crabs? Read Jes Burns' account of preparing South Carolina crabs.