Everyday Crab Cakes

These simple crab cakes are sure to please the whole family!

These crab cakes are my basic go-to recipe. No frills, not trying to impress anyone, I just want fried crab in my mouth-crab cakes.

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Crab Cakes:

• 2 cups Crab, Dungeness or Tanner (Snow Crab), shelled
• 3/4 cup crushed butter crackers (such as Ritz)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 cup of onion, minced
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• a pinch of fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

First start out by sauteing your onions that you have minced fine in about a 1/2 tablespoon of butter or oil with a pinch of salt to draw out the moisture. Once they have cooked for about 7-10 minutes set them aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl combine your crab (that you have previously cooked and shelled) with the mayonnaise, egg, paprika, salt and pepper. When your onions are cooled add those as well. Stir to combine.

Empty out about one sleeve of Ritz crackers (or generic butter crackers) into a large zip-top freezer bag and begin smashing them with either the smooth side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin. Continue to crush until the crackers are a fine powder.

Add the crackers to the blended crab mixture and incorporate thoroughly. Allow the crab cake mix to sit for 5 minutes to allow the crumbs to absorb some of the moisture. After you have let it rest you may need to adjust the recipe. If the mixture seems too wet, more cracker crumbs should be added. If it it too dry and will not stick together to form a patty you may need to add a little more mayonnaise.

Form balls about the size of a racquetball (about 2 inches in diameter) and smash them slightly so that they form a medium sized patty. Have your panko bread crumbs ready in a shallow bowl and once you have formed the patty coat each side gently with the panko. Place the patty onto a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. They are much easier to fry if they are slightly firm.

To cook simply add enough cooking oil to just barely coat the whole bottom of the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes on either side until they are golden brown. Try not to crowd them and add more oil to the pan if necessary between batches.

Enjoy!

Optional Tartar Sauce:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• About 1/2 cup of bread and butter pickles, minced
• 1 Tbsp. of the bread and butter pickle juice
• 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper

This is the quick tartar sauce that I usually make to go with my salmon/crab cakes. I REALLY love bread and butter pickles (especially my mom’s homemade ones) and I think the sweet tanginess really goes with the salty crab cakes.