Crab Cakes for Shabbat

Tired of the same-old gefilte fish every Shabbat dinner? Why not spice things up and serve crab cakes next week? Hopefully, once you've explained to your guests that everything is kosher and these are made with artificial crab meat (the same kind they've likely had in California rolls countless times) , they'll be willing to try these out and their expressions of frenzied panic will soon turn to smiles.

The following recipe is mostly my own concoction. Basically, I went to some recipe websites, looked up some other crab cake recipes, took the stuff I liked, and modified it slightly because imitation crab doesn't behave quite like the real deal. Anyway, here's a rough approximation of what I do (hard to really write down since I cook by feel).

LT's Crab Cake Surprise
(Surprise! You're not going to hell for eating these!)

Ingredients
1 16 oz. Package Dyna-Sea Imitation Crabmeat Sticks
1 Yellow Pepper
½ Red Pepper
2 Eggs
½ Cup Breadcrumbs
3 Scallions
½ of a small Onion
Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
A pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground Black Pepper
Cooking Oil

Directions
1. Dice the crabmeat, peppers, scallions and onions very finely. And I mean very finely. The smaller you cut the pieces, the more likely your cakes will be to hold together and look pretty. When I made them last night, I probably cut less finely than ideal - so consider the following picture the bare minimum.


2. Combine in a bowl the crabmeat, peppers, onion, scallions, egg, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce (to be honest, you can also mix up the ingredients depending on what you like or don't like. Last night, I added a splash of lime juice too - was yummy. ALSO: Instead of mayonnaise, I sometimes use tartar sauce instead - that's also yummy, but don't sweat it if you only have mayonnaise). Mush everything together by hand. If it's not liquid enough, add another egg or more mayonnaise. If it's not holding together well when you try and form it into patties, add some more breadcrumbs or even a little flour.

3. Once you have a nice, mushy, sticky mixture, start forming the crabmeat into patties. Fry them in cooking oil (I prefer vegetable oil for this) on medium-high heat, turning once when it has browned and it seems like you might actually be able to flip it without it falling apart (and to be honest, even if it does fall apart, it's still pretty yummy).

Makes ~12-14 medium-sized patties

The good news is they reheat well and are even good cold, so if you make too much, that's a good thing - you now have something to snack on for the next day.



Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if they don't actually taste yummy. As I said, when I make it, I don't really make it from a recipe; I make it by feel. I'm also not responsible if you accidentally burn down your house/apartment building while trying to make them. Lastly, I'm not responsible if your guests do actually end up going to hell (oops!)

Enjoy!


EDIT - Elisheva has posted a "crab salad recipe" for those who just can't get enough!