Crab Cake

Quick answer

Total time: 30 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

Crab cakes are a signature seafood dish of the American East Coast, made by gently folding crab meat with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley, and lemon juice, then shaping the mixture into patties and pan-frying in butter until golden on each side.

Mixing the crab meat with a light touch preserves the large flakes that give each bite its distinctive texture. Lemon juice brightens the flavor and tempers any fishiness. Chilling the formed patties for thirty minutes firms them enough to flip in the pan without breaking apart. The finished crab cake has a crisp, buttery exterior enclosing moist, sweet crab.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

crab meat250 gg

mayonnaise3 tsts

Dijon mustard1 tsts

egg1 piecepiece

breadcrumbs40 gg

parsley5 gg

lemon½ piecepiece

butter30 gg

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Step

Drain 250 g crab meat in a sieve, then gently press it with paper towels until the surface feels dry.

Keep the larger flakes intact, because excess moisture and broken pieces make the cakes loose and harder to sear.
2

Step

In a bowl, whisk 3 ts mayonnaise, 1 ts Dijon mustard, and 1 egg until even.

Stir in 40 g breadcrumbs, 5 g parsley, and the juice from the lemon half so the binder is moist but not runny.
3

Prep

Add the crab meat and fold from the bottom with a spatula only 6 to 8 times.

Stop when the mixture just holds together and visible crab flakes remain, instead of stirring until it becomes a paste.
4

Finish

Shape the mixture into patties of the same thickness, pressing the edges lightly so cracks do not open during cooking.

Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes so they firm enough to flip cleanly.
5

Control

Preheat a skillet over medium heat and melt 30 g butter.

When the foaming settles, add the patties and cook the first side for about 4 minutes, checking that the edges turn golden before moving them.
6

Heat

Turn each cake once with a wide spatula and cook the second side for 3 to 4 minutes.

When the outside is crisp and the center feels hot, rest them for 1 minute so they hold together before serving.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Minimal folding preserves large crab chunks before the patties pan-fry in butter until golden on both sides.
Finish cue: When the foaming settles, add the patties and cook the first side for about 4 minutes, checking that the edges turn golden before moving them.
Avoid this: Shape the mixture into patties of the same thickness, pressing the edges lightly so cracks do not open during cooking.
Storage and reheating: Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes so they firm enough to flip cleanly.