Crab cakes
Crab cakes
Your cut-out-and-keep guide to the fundamentals of cooking
If you’re going to buy a full crab for a recipe like this, you have to bear in mind that 70pc of the crab is shell. Also, with crab cakes, you’re only going to use the claw meat. A good fishmonger will have fresh claws, or even tubs of unpasteurised claw meat. There is nothing to beat fresh crab. That’s the meat you want. Pasteurised crab meat will say on it that it’s pasteurised. They pasteurise it to prolong the crab-meat’s life, but it has a metallic taste; it’s not the same at all. Crab meat is expensive, and in this recipe, I’ve only used slightly more crab than potato, but the more crab you can use, the better. What you want to taste is the crab and nothing else. Potato is merely a bland binder, but crab is what you taste, and the eggs and breadcrumbs are just to bind the crab cakes a bit more and to give a bit of textural interest. I use Irish rapeseed oil for deep frying. Ethically, it’s a great product, but you can also heat it to about 160°C (320°F) without burning, so you can cook the crab cake fast, and it has a crispy exterior and a soft interior. If you like a more crunchy exterior, you can use panko breadcrumbs. They are dried Japanese breadcrumbs, and they are available in supermarkets these days. They have a higher burn point and more crunch. Instead of adding chilli or onion or anything distracting to the crab cakes, I suggest this salsa, which brings the zing and other flavours. You could also drizzle the dish with a dressing of cider vinegar, honey and lime juice. Serves 4.
You will need:
330g (11½oz) unpasteurised crab-claw meat 300g (10½oz) mashed potato Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons white flour 1 egg, beaten 100g (4oz) white breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs
You will need:
1 mango 1 hass avocado 20g( ¾oz) fresh ginger 5 sprigs of fresh coriander 1 lime, juice and zest
Method:
Mix together the crab-claw meat and the cooked mashed potato and season to taste with the salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do not handle the mixture too much, just roll it into six golf-ball-size cakes. Put the white flour on a plate and put the beaten egg in a bowl. Roll each crab-cake ball in the flour, then dip them in the beaten egg and roll them in the white breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs, whichever you’re using. Flatten them slightly into a cake shape, then set them aside until a few minutes before you’re ready to serve. To make the salsa, chop the mango and the avocado into small dice. Grate the fresh ginger, finely chop the fresh coriander and mix together with the diced mango, the diced avocado, the lime juice and the lime zest. Chill the salsa in the fridge. To cook the crab cakes, deep-fry them for five minutes until they are golden and crisp. Serve with the salsa. Nicky Foley is the Executive Head Chef at The Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork, tel: (021) 427-4040, or see imperialhotelcork.ie In conversation with Sarah Caden