Sometimes when I fancy myself to be a good cook, or don't want to be mistaken for a bad one, I take it upon myself to create a good recipe. So back in July 12, 2016, I wanted one for crab cakes. I knew little about them other than having eaten them a few times.

Without a family crab cake recipe, I went straight for google. I thought it was important before making crab cakes, to know what makes a good crab cake. After that, I chose a recipe and then refined it each time I made them according to my tasting notes. (You might have gathered from the date above that I keep notes.) I found this excellent article:

How to cook perfect crab cakes.

It wasn't just a recipe; it was an analysis of crab cakes recipes. Just my kind of thing since I want to understand why you do things a certain way. In reviewing various crab cakes, it assessed each component for its effect. That let me choose ingredients based on what I thought the crab cakes should be like, since by then I understood there wasn't only one ideal.

The first time I made them I did start with their recipe. Now that I have made them 5 times and changed the recipe according to my notes, they bear little resemblance to the original.

Use any crab, preferrably in lump form.

The mixture can be quite wet and loose especially if the crab isn't lumpy. For this reason, the first time I made them, I decided to drop them into cornmeal. Not only did it make the mixture easier to handle but it made for a slightly crunchie surface which I liked. For my most recent batch, I put the mixture in the refrigerator overnight, making it stiffer which also helped with handling. Right before cooking, I shaped the cakes and coated them with cornmeal.

My Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of crab meat (roughly 240 grams)
• 4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay spice
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
• black pepper
• pinch of smoked paprika
• cornmeal to coat
• vegetable oil

1. Mix the crab meat with the flour and dry ingredients.
2. Add the beaten egg.
3. Refrigerating the mixture for an hour is recommended but not necessary.
4. Heat 1/4" of vegetable oil in the frying pan.
5. They're done when both sides are browned.

Makes 4-7 cakes depending on the size you like

Options:

1 green onion - I prefer it to parsley

When I'm making something special, I like to mix a little butter in with my cooking oil, but use whatever you wish as long the oil is about 1/4" deep so the cakes brown well.

I recommend a mango salsa on the side. In the first photo, I used some of the raspberry vinegarette that I put on the salad.

Enjoy!

@kansuze