I also love seafood (have you noticed the abundance of shrimp on my blog?) and decided that it was time to make my own crabcakes. I’ve had them before, but never made my own. Everything I read said not to use canned crab, but I have had a lot of luck with Trader Joe’s products and so thought I’d give their canned crab a try. Eric and I really liked it. It’s wrapped in paper within the can and it doesn’t have that metal taste like some canned products do. Fresh still probably tastes better, but we weren’t disappointed.
The crabcakes can be a little difficult. If you have the extra time, form the cakes at least an hour ahead of time and chill in you fridge on a plate or cookie sheet before breading and frying. That helps them stick together better. If you’re like me, there’s usually not that much time to prepare dinner. I just carefully breaded the cakes and used my spatula to transfer them to the frying pan. Then I kind of reshaped them while they were in the pan if they came apart at all. Also after flipping them, I pressed them down a little to thin them out (keeping them thin makes sure they cook through without burning). It actually only took about 5-10 minutes and wasn’t too hard at all. I served them to the side of the salad because I wasn’t sure if we’d like the dressing, but it went great together and next time I’ll serve them on top of it with lots of dressing. It’s a spinach and feta (of course!) salad with mango habanero dressing. The sweet/spicy/tangy dressing was a great match with the crab.
Simple Canned Crab Cakes
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
3 stalks scallions finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
Olive oil
1 can of crab meat (paper wrapped kind)
¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 beaten egg
1 TBS mayonnaise
½ tsp salt
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp pepper
½ cup Italian bread crumbs (or regular breadcrumbs mixed with Italian Seasoning)
Instructions
Sautee scallions and garlic in olive oil for about a minute or until softened (be careful not to burn the garlic!) Mix with crab meat through pepper. Form into 8 patties and carefully coat in Italian breadcrumbs by dipping them in one side at a time. Fry in olive oil on medium high until golden brown and crispy.
Theses look so nice! My mother made crab cakes with canned crab last time I visited. It was a special kind that is kept in the freezer because it is “fresh”. I guess that means they don’t process it at high temps to officially can it, but that crab tasted wonderful! I’m glad you found a canned crab that you like!