Classic Baja Rock Crab Cakes

A super simple, classic crab cake recipe featuring our local Baja Rock Crab meat. Recipe and photo courtesy Ken “Man with a Pan” Gardon for Catalina Offshore Products. Makes 4-6 full sized crab cakes or 10-12 small crab cakes. Pair with your favorite aioli or tarter sauce, or serve over salad!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Baja Rock Crab meat
• 8 plain saltine crackers
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire
• 1 teaspoon Cajun type seasoning or old bay seasoning
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

How to Prepare:

1. Turn crab meat out into a non-reactive bowl or onto a cutting board. Look over for any loose shell fragments and discard them.
2. Place crackers in a ziplock bag and use rolling pin or smooth side of meat hammer to gently crush crackers into small crumbs. Set aside. In a separate nonreactive bowl mix together the egg, mayo, mustard, Worcestershire, Cajun seasoning and salt. Gently fold in the cracker crumbs, followed by the crab meat, until everything is combined.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.
4. When ready to cook, heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat. While pan is warming, form crab mixture into cakes of desired size. For uniformity and presentation, you can use a round cookie or egg ring mold to form the cakes. Once the pan has heated for about 6 minutes, add oil to coat bottom of pan, allow 15 or so seconds for the oil to come to pan temp. Add the cakes to the pan, allowing plenty of room between them. (Do batches if necessary, don’t crowd the pan.) Saute cakes until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side. Place finished crab cakes on plate or tray with paper towels to drain, keeping in a warm oven until all cakes are done and ready to serve.
5. Garnish with lemon wedges and your favorite remoulade or tartar sauce, or set them atop fresh salad greens tossed with olive oil and balsamic and finish with fresh parmesan shavings.

Products

Baja Rock Crab Meat