Recipe Maryland Style Crab Cakes and Caribbean Conch Fritters

CraigC

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I serve the cakes over a lightly dressed spinach/arugula salad. The fritters are served with a cocktail sauce or a roasted garlic, tartar sauce.

Maryland Crab Cakes – makes 12 cakes
One version

Ingredients
8 slices Wonder bread
3 tbsp white wine
4 cups backfin crabmeat
4 cups lump crabmeat
Old Bay seasoning to taste
4 eggs, beaten
1tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ cup melted unsalted butter
8 tbsp thick mayonnaise (like Hellman’s)
Lard
Vegetable oil

Directions
1) Trim the crusts from the bread and tear each piece into little pieces (about 20 pieces per slice). Place the bread in a bowl and sprinkle with the wine, toss lightly. Set aside.
2) Pick over the crab meat to remove any shells.
3) Season to taste with Old Bay, then add the soaked bread, beaten eggs, lemon juice and melted butter, toss lightly to keep crab pieces together.
4) Add the mayo and toss gently to mix using your fingers. Allow mixture to sit in fridge for several hours.
5) Place a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and add enough lard and vege oil (50/50 mix) to a depth of about 1”.
6) Shape mixture into 12 equal cakes. Gently place the cakes in the oil (I slide off of a spatula), fry for 3-4 minutes or just until golden.
7) Flip them carefully (I use 2 spatulas) and fry 3-4 minutes.
8) Remove from pan and drain.


Craig’s Conch Fritters
2 lbs conch, diced (I cut up in big chunks and zap in the food processor to a coarse mince. Now that I have the meat grinder, I process through the 1/4" die
2 tubes Ritz crackers, crushed – I use about 1-1/2 tubes to start then add if necessary
¼ cup peeled, seeded, and diced tomatoes
¼ cup chopped parsley
½ cup chopped onion
½ tsp garlic paste
6 eggs, add 1 at a time
1 finely chopped pickled jalapeno

Directions
Mix together, form in balls, and deep fry until golden brown.I use a 1", quick release ice cream scoop. Do not over crowd the fryer.
 
Wonder bread is soft white sliced bread?

All sounds delicious. I love crab cakes - I have an intolerance to mayo though. I tend to make Thai style crab cakes (no mayo). Conch is simply unavailable in the UK...:(
 
What is "backfin" and "lump" crab meat? Over here, crab meat is usually sold as white or brown!

The crab used is blue crab. Jumbo lump is the most sought after of the backfin meat coming from the two largest backfins. Backfin is from the smaller fins.
 
Wonder bread is soft white sliced bread?

All sounds delicious. I love crab cakes - I have an intolerance to mayo though. I tend to make Thai style crab cakes (no mayo). Conch is simply unavailable in the UK...:(

Yes, sliced white. Wonder is a brand name that is very, very soft. You could use scungilli.
 
The ground and drained conch.
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The other ingredients
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The fritter "batter"
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Raw Fritters
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Ready with some chips
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We don't have scungilli but we do have whelks which are also sea snails. Unless you are on the coast you won't get them in the UK - they aren't very popular. I've eaten them in fish restaurants and have to say I found them a bit rubbery! I imagine though, that mincing them makes them much more palatable.
 
We don't have scungilli but we do have whelks which are also sea snails. Unless you are on the coast you won't get them in the UK - they aren't very popular. I've eaten them in fish restaurants and have to say I found them a bit rubbery! I imagine though, that mincing them makes them much more palatable.

Those would work as well. Chopped shrimp/prawns will also make a tasty fritter. Pretty sure I mentioned using abalone for the fritters as well.
 
I love crab cakes - and other seafood cakes but I am not fond of a lot of bread or other binder. When I make seafood cakes I use only a very little bit of bread crumbs or Panko. More neat than anything. I am wracking my brain trying to remember the name of a restaurant in NOLA. The crab cakes had no bread at all. They were served in a ring. Perfectly seasoned lump crab meat. SWOON.
 
My brain kicked in - GW Fin's. I looked on line. There are several other restaurants in NOLA and the surrounding area that prepare crab cakes with little or no bread. Lots of luscious lump crab meat.

Sorry - I do not mean to sound preachy or arrogant.
 
I love crab cakes - and other seafood cakes but I am not fond of a lot of bread or other binder. When I make seafood cakes I use only a very little bit of bread crumbs or Panko. More neat than anything. I am wracking my brain trying to remember the name of a restaurant in NOLA. The crab cakes had no bread at all. They were served in a ring. Perfectly seasoned lump crab meat. SWOON.

That's why we use the Wonder Bread. With its soft, airy, fluffy texture, it just disappears and you don't even know it's there.
 
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