- Hey everybody, it's Natasha of natashaskitchen.com
and I love seafood and today I'm gonna teach you
how to make the ultimate crab cakes.
And you're gonna love this dipping sauce.
These are better than any restaurant version I've tried.
They're so good, let's get started.
We'll start with some quick prep.
Finely dice one medium onion.
You should have about one cup of diced onion.
Also finely dice one half of a red bell pepper.
Place a large skillet over medium heat
and add one tablespoon of olive oil.
Once the oil is hot,
add your finely diced onions and bell pepper.
Saute those together for about seven to nine minutes
or until they're golden and soft.
Stir that occasionally to make sure
your veggies are cooking evenly.
And when they're done,
take them off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Now in a large mixing bowl, crack two large eggs.
Also add three tablespoons of mayo and mayo
is the secret ingredient to keep these really moist.
Next, we have one teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce,
one and a half teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning.
If you don't have that,
you can use a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning.
One teaspoon of garlic, salt,
and half a teaspoon of black pepper.
Whisk those together until they're well-combined.
Next, we have one pound of crab meat,
and this is lump crab meat that I've picked out
of two Dungeness crabs.
You can use a variety of different kinds of crab meat,
and I'll leave that in the notes,
along with the kind of crab meat that should be avoided.
Break the meat apart lightly if you see any big pieces,
and also be checking for any stray crab shell.
If there's any extra liquid in your crab meat,
make sure you drain that off,
then transfer it to your egg mixture.
Now add one half cup of plain panko breadcrumbs
along with your sauteed veggies
that have cooled down to room temperature.
Also you'll need one fourth cup
of finely-chopped, fresh parsley.
And here's a quick trick I learned,
if you have a box grater,
you can push the stem of the parsley
through one of the large holes
and then pull it through on the other side
and this separates the stems from the leaves.
If you have any great tips for cutting herbs,
let me know in the comments.
(optimistic music)
Now finely chop up one fourth cup of fresh parsley leaves
and add those to the mixture.
I do like to keep a little bit set aside
to garnish the finished crab cakes.
This crab cake recipe is so simple, has very little filler,
but the ingredients here make the flavor
of the crab really shine.
If you do anything unusual when making your crab cakes,
I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
Stir that mixture together until it's well-combined
and the crumbs are evenly moistened,
then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate that
for at least 30 minutes.
Refrigerating the mixture will make it much easier
to form your crab cake patties.
Once the mixture is cooled,
take it out of the fridge and we're gonna
use a trigger release ice cream scoop for even patties.
Scoop those out onto a large cookie sheet or cutting board.
You should get about 15 patties.
My best tip for forming crab cakes is to have a little bowl
of cold water next to you,
that way you can dip your fingers into it
and forming the crab cakes with wet hands
keeps them from sticking to your hands.
And I do like to shape these into thick crab cakes,
at least a half inch thick.
Once the patties are all formed,
we're ready to saute.
To saute the crab cakes,
I highly recommend a large, nonstick pan.
This will make it much easier to flip the crab cakes
without them breaking apart.
Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon
of olive oil over medium heat.
Once the butter is done sizzling, add the crab cakes.
And I cook these in two batches
so we're not overcrowding the pan.
Saute for about four to five minutes per side.
If you see the crab cakes are browning too quickly,
reduce the heat to give them a chance to cook through.
Remember, these are fairly thick patties.
Once they're golden brown and done cooking,
transfer those to a large serving platter.
Repeat this process with the rest of your crab cakes,
adding another tablespoon of oil and butter.
What I love about these crab cakes
is they are delicious warm or at room temperature,
so you don't have to speed through making them.
You can also keep them warm in the oven before serving
and they reheat really well.
Once the patties are all cooked up,
we're gonna make our simple and popular lemon aioli.
This is the same dipping sauce
that we used on our shrimp cakes.
You'll need half a cup of mayo
and one teaspoon of a lemon zest.
I like to add the zest right into the mayo,
then use that same lemon to squeeze out two tablespoons
of fresh lemon juice.
Now, an aioli is basically a flavored mayonnaise,
but this one is so special.
The lemon really lightens it up
and makes it taste so fresh and delicious.
And it is a perfect match with crab cakes.
Also press in one large garlic clove,
then simply stir it all together and it's ready to serve.
Transfer that to a ramekin and just serve it
right on the same platter with the crab cakes
so guests can add as much as they like.
All right, I'm so excited.
Our crab cakes are done, our sauce is done,
and you can also serve this with a homemade tartar sauce
which was really good.
I'll leave a link to the recipe
in the notes or a cocktail sauce.
Some people love crab cakes with cocktail sauce.
I personally really love that little hint
of lemon in this sauce.
It pairs perfectly with crab cakes and I'm hungry
and I'm really craving these,
so we're gonna get right into this taste taste.
Here we go.
Dunk, take a dunk in that sauce.
(giggling)
I'm excited.
Honey, do I got sauce on my face?
(laughs)
I probably do, it's worth it.
Wow, this is so good.
I love the big chunks of crab meat in here.
That's why they call it lump crab meat.
It's like an entire mouth full of crab,
and there's hardly any filler in here
that makes the crab really shine.
And you guys are gonna love this sauce.
I love that zing of fresh lemon juice.
It's a perfect match with crab cakes.
This is so satisfying.
If you guys love crab meat,
(chuckling)
crab meat dreams are coming true right here.
You know how else these are really good?
Is in sliders with those little cute little buns.
So yummy, delicious.
perfect as an appetizer or as lunch
and seriously better than any restaurant one
that I have ever tried
because there's so much crab meat in here, it's so good.
I hope these become a new favorite for you
and we'll see you in our next video.
(optimistic music)
(beeping)
(clapping)
(beeping)
(clapping)
(laughing)
That's gross.
(beeping)
♪ Just a little bit closer, oh ♪
- [Man] Stick your finger in to make sure it's hot.
(belching)
- Excuse me.
(beeping)
(chuckling)
Is that camera still on?
No!
Is it really?
No.
(laughing)
Everybody's gonna know.
Good thing it's just the two of us in the whole world.
Oh, dang it.
I quit.
(laughing)