Last week, while probably surfing Facebook…there was a knock at my front door. It was my neighbor that lives in the house behind me. “Do you like crab?” he says. I think I had a puzzled look on my face, “yes”…

“Well here’s a few crabs for you, caught today, already cooked.”

Whaaa?

Oh yeah baby, four big Dungeness crabs that he, himself, caught that day (he owns a fishing boat).

Hell yes.

Erik and I were off to yoga that night, so weren’t able to eat them. The next day I pondered what to do with them, and wondered if there was such thing as a ‘healthier’ crab cake.

Now, I’ve never had a crab cake in my life, so I had no idea really what I was getting into, except that they are usually greasy, bad for you treats that so many people love.

Can I make baked ones? Sure can…

But how do I get all the meat out of the crabs?

Google.

Sha-zaam, and I found this: How to pick crabs.

I can’t say it was the most pleasant of activities, but I rolled my sleeves up, and dove in. Thirty minutes and 1.5 pounds of fresh lump crab meat later, I was beyond pleased.

These are really easy. If you don’t want to pick crabs, buy fresh lump crab meat when you can…it’s so worth it.

I pretty much doubled the recipe because I had twice as much crab…but the recipe as is will make 24 mini crab cakes, or about 6 big suckers. We served them with a fresh salad, and cocktail sauce.

From Sunset Magazine 2002

Print
Baked Panko Crusted Crab Cakes

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces shelled cooked crab
  • 1/4 cup finely diced celery
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1 1/4 cups panko (see notes) or fine dried bread crumbs

Instructions

  1. Sort through crab and discard any bits of shell.
  2. In a large bowl, combine celery, minced chives, mayonnaise, egg, mustard, and hot sauce; mix well with a fork. Add crab and 1/4 cup panko; stir gently just to mix.
  3. Put remaining 1 cup panko in a shallow bowl. Shape crab mixture into 24 cakes, each about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Turn each cake in panko to coat on all sides, pressing gently to make crumbs adhere. Place cakes slightly apart in an oiled 12- by 17-inch baking pan.
  4. Bake in a 475° regular or convection oven until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. With a spatula, transfer crab cakes to a platter. Spoon a dollop of Roasted Pepper-Chive Aioli onto each cake. Garnish platter with fresh chives. Serve hot.
  5. Roasted Pepper-Chive Aioli. In a small bowl, mix 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup chopped drained canned roasted red peppers, 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Makes about 1/2 cup.
  6. Notes: The Japanese-style coarse bread crumbs called panko are available in many well-stocked supermarkets and in Asian grocery stores.