Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes are a summer seafood delicacy! Many try to replicate these, so today it is my turn! Last year, I was listening to my NPR station when they broadcasted a podcast from the Baltimore Sun’s Roughly Speaking(#250) for Perfect Crab Cakes. So, of course I took notes and listened to it again and again. I would recommend you take the time to listen to it because of it’s wealth of crab cake wisdom. You can search this podcast on the web and locate it easily! I highly recommend it! Here, we will take some of these ideas and put them to the test. One recipe cooked two ways, fried and broiled.
John Shields, a Chesapeake culinary expert, and owner of Gertrude’s restaurant in Baltimore, emphasized that every Maryland kitchen should know how to make a great crab cake. Even though he says jumbo lump is the best, backfin, or a combination of both could be used. It’s widely agreed that very little binder should be used. You want to enjoy the crab, not the filler and I couldn’t agree more! His expertise in this area stems from his grandmother Gertie. The web page does link to Gertie’s Baltimore crab cake recipe as well Miss Shirley’s from Phillips’ Crabhouse in Ocean City, Maryland.
On the other side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, I did some local research through family connections to Smith Island. I was informed that they used a mix of crab meat. Estelle’s husband was involved in the crabbing industry. They used all the meat, not just the lump, to make the crab cakes. My niece told me, with that combination of crabmeat, she found them to be more flavorful. Also, they were just seasoned with just salt and pepper, no Old Bay. (What??) Her daughter indicated no Worcestershire sauce was used either, yet my niece’s recipe had just 1/2 teaspoon. The mayo was close to what I used here, but her grandmother’s wording was 2 1/2 HEAPING tablespoons and she used regular yellow mustard instead of Dijon. That’s just my preference when cooking. Once this was gently mixed together, they coated them in (saltine) cracker crumbs. Estelle would make a lot at a time and freeze them, wrapped individually in wax paper, to have them available to cook whenever the mood struck. I imagine that was often as I have heard many rave reviews of Estelle’s cooking to this day. Such a sweetheart of a lady!
Looking here, you can see the mayo, egg, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, and of course, Old Bay seasoning I chose to use for these crab cakes. The egg will help solidify the crab cake. Blend them well.
1/3 cup saltine crumbs were used as the binder. 3-4 tablespoons per pound is recommended.
I added the crab meat to the bowl with the wet ingredients and placed the saltines on top and blended them gently trying not to break up the lumps of crab meat.
Once blended, with ingredients distributed evenly throughout the crab meat, create the crab cakes. It was recommended that they be 3 inches in diameter and about 3/4″ thick. Using a 3″ biscuit cutter, I lightly packed the crab meat inside it. Carefully lift off the biscuit cutter. Gently slide a metal spatula underneath the crab cake and place it on a lined baking sheet. I was able to make 5 crab cakes with this amount of crab meat.
The next step is critical! Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This time allows the binder to absorb the liquid. I refrigerated them for an hour.
Now, the cooking process can vary according to individual preferences. I opted to try a couple of variations. Here, I cooked them in canola oil about 3 minutes per side. Flip gently!
Here’s a perfect golden crab cake.
Here is the broiled crab cake, which was our preference since we hardly ever eat fried food. I believe this version compliments the sweet meat the best. The oven rack was placed on the second level down from the broiler. Watch them carefully. Flip after 3-4 minutes. Once golden on both sides, they were removed from the oven.
This is usually served with a tartar sauce, if you like that sort of thing but I tried something “different” . I had recently made my Smoky Comeback Dipping Sauce for my Fried Green Tomatoes. It complimented it well, I thought. In a world of purists when it comes to crab cakes, dare to be a little different! I’ve been told that people in Baltimore just put mustard on their crab cakes. I don’t think I could do that. To each his own! Either way, enjoy the quest of the perfect crab cake!
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Cook time:
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Serves: 4-5 servings
- 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
- 2 T. mayonnaise
- 1 large egg
- 2 t. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 t. dry mustard/ Dijon mustard
- 1 t. Old Bay
- dash hot sauce, optional
- ⅓ c. saltine crumbs or 3-4 T. Panko could also be used.
- Crabcakes:
- Blend mayo, egg, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and Old Bay.
- Lightly toss with the jumbo lump crab meat and saltine cracker crumbs.
- Form them into 4-5 crab cakes. about 3" in diameter and ¾" thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before cooking.
- For pan frying: Heat pan to mediium and add ½ " oil. Sear it on both sides for about 3 minutes.
- For broiling: Place rack on top third of oven. Flip after 3-4 minutes. Watch carefully! When golden, remove from oven.
