Crispy Crab Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Aioli
From The Barking Crab, a stalwart restaurant on Boston’s waterfront, these classic crab cakes are full of sweet meat and just enough crumbs.
By Yankee Magazine|Aug 31 2022|
Crispy Crab Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Aioli
Photo Credit: Heath RobbinsFrom The Barking Crab, a stalwart restaurant on Boston’s waterfront, come this classic crab cakes recipe, full of sweet meat and just enough crumbs to hold it all together.
Yield
9 cakes
Total Time
60 minutesIngredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (not olive)
2 tablespoons diced onion
2 tablespoons diced celery
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
2 cups fine dry plain breadcrumbs, divided
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
1-1/4 pounds crabmeat, picked through for shell bits
1/4 cup finely diced red or yellow bell pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
In a small sauté pan over medium heat, add oil and cook onion and celery until softened, 4 -5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Transfer to a medium-size bowl and let cool.
Add 1 cup breadcrumbs, herbs, mustard, salt, Worcestershire, Tabasco, crabmeat, and pepper; mix thoroughly. Form into patties about 1/2 inch thick and 3-1/2 inches in diameter.
Spread remaining 1 cup breadcrumbs on a plate. Turn each crab cake in crumbs to coat lightly. Set coated cakes on a wire rack and let dry 15 to 20 minutes.
In a large sauté pan on medium-high setting, heat 1/4 inch oil. Add crab cakes, keeping them well separated, and fry until browned and crisp, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
Serve on a bed of greens and top with Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Aioli.
Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic Aioli
Ingredients
1 large red bell pepper
3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chopped capers
1 scant tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Heat a cast-iron pan or griddle on medium-high setting. Place pepper on it and press lightly (or place under a broiler–keep an eye on it). Roast pepper, turning and pressing, until all sides are blackened.
Place pepper in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When pepper is cool enough to handle, remove blackened outer skin, veins, and seeds.
Place garlic on pan and roast, without pressing, until browned on all sides. Remove garlic and set aside. When cool enough to handle, peel garlic.
In the bowl of a food processor, purée pepper and garlic. Add mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, salt, and pepper; pulse to combine.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups sauce
Thank you for these delicious recipes!!
YUM! YUM!
Can you freeze the crabcakes?
Hmmm…that is an awful lot of filling for a “crab” cake. Of course I am from Maryland so maybe our crabs taste better and we don’t need to put a bunch of stuff in our cakes to make them edible! 🙂
I won’t let your sour comment sour my day. Try to enjoy life and spread some positive energy.
Personally I can go either way on crab cakes. I do like the New England style as there is a really good mix of flavors. However the Blue Crab is one of those treats best by its self. Kind of like the old arguments on lobster. Go to Maine and tell them how it’s done in Maryland. That’s the wonderful world of food we have been blessed with. So many different ways to prepare our food and such great selections. Course I am one of those that love to eat and can appreciate any meal based on the local customs. Bon Appetit
I agree that it’s a lot of ingredients!
Two cups of bread crumbs is what stands out. I always thought that the idea was to use the best lump crabmeat you could afford and just enough bread crumbs to prevent them from falling apart. This recipe, which it probably is delicious, is almost 1/4 cup per crab cake.
I agree wholeheartedly with Carrie.. there is crab and then there is Maryland blue crab. Born and raised in Maryland everyone knows it’s about the crab not the breadcrumbs. Crab cakes in the Northeast as just OK, not mouthwatering to die for.
I have had MD crabs, bought in a restaurant, loaded with spices, Can’t tell if there was any meat. I have caught Blue Shell Crab in Alabama and devoured them. So good, didn’t need to spice them. Just add whatever seasoning in the boil and go for it. Those that harp on MD crabs, haven’t judged Crabs form many other places. I have crab traps and easily get 2-3 5 gallon buckets of them in a short time in the summer. Not so many in the colder time time of the year, but still get them.
Fine for New England, but for those of you who want a more Maryland style crab cake, make them any way you want to, but Maryland crab cakes usually leave out the celery, garlic, and tarragon, and do include Old Bay Seasoning, but may have the same number of ingredients adding such things as eggs, and mayonnaise, and less breading, which could be crackers. There are thousands of different recipes. Have fun with them.
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Saved this for the sauce. Prefer Maryland crab cakes w/o all the extra stuff in them
Crab cakes Maryland crab cakes or any crab cakes is delish, no matter where! Everyone has preference and difference taste buds! Be lucky to be able to eat any food and count it as a blessing! Other countries or places are not as lucky to be able to have a good meal! Stay blessed and humble ya’ll!
Finally, a receipt without eggs. For those of us with allergies, these receipies are much appreciated. Now anyone have a recipe made for cold crab cakes with no egg or Mayo? Listen up restaurant owners. A good menu item. Only found one in Washington Deppt CT years ago.
This is way too much breadcrumb. My recipe uses 1/2 cup of panko to 1 lb of crab
having been a personal chef … I would cut the bread crumbs by half and add an egg. Sounds like a generally good recipe…there are many.