The perfect crab cake recipe for summer
When a popular food show host recommends a recipe, you can probably bet that it’s pretty darn good. No questions asked—you just take their word for it and try it out.
Case in point? This crab cake recipe recommended by Andrew Zimmern, who you may know from the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.” He says there is only one way to make a Baltimore-style crab cake. He shared the recipe and the story behind it with Food & Wine, and apparently, this is the mixture he’s been using for years.
Here’s what Zimmern told Food & Wine about the scrumptious crab cake recipe:
Follow the steps to the letter and you will be making these cakes every opportunity you have. For years I searched for a great crab cake recipe. I wanted one that didn’t have a lot of filler, had no minced red pepper, no parsley—none of the usual crap that chefs typically ruin a good crab cake with. There is, in fact, a right and a wrong way to cook some foods, and putting a lot of junk in a crab cake is one of the biggest transgressions I find in American cookery. Anyway, one night about 20 years ago, my best friend’s wife (who is from Baltimore) shared her mother’s secret “country club” recipe for crab cakes.
The recipe involves fewer ingredients than some classic recipes because, as Zimmern mentions, he’s not a fan of all of the extra bells and whistles. Instead of using breadcrumbs, he uses crushed saltine crackers to create the crunchy crust. Mix that with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce and crab meat and you’ve got all of the makings for what Zimmern calls “the perfect recipe.”
It’s important to note that part of what makes Maryland famous for its crab cakes, as explained in the video above, is the big lumps of crab meat used to make them. So make sure you’re getting high-quality lumps of crab meat for your crab cakes. Zimmern’s recipe calls for one pound of crab meat.
Once you’ve got the ingredients mixed and rolled into patties, a little bit of time on the skillet is all they’ll need until they’re ready to eat. You can find the full recipe on Food & Wine, and trust us, you’ll want to mix up a batch of these sooner rather than later.
Zimmern recommends serving slaw, potato salad and fruit salad with the crab cakes. Lucky for you, we’ve got some amazingly simple and mayo-less recipes for potato salad. Invite some friends over and get ready to have one incredible summer shindig!
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