Dungeness Crab Cakes

Fernando Divina, divinAmerica

As the season wanes and we look to spring time sea vegetables, fish and crustacean species, we long to have our fresh cracked crab straight away and plenty of it. With what remains (if any!) after a family feast, we pick the meat and make Mexican-inspired Veracruzano (coctel de cangrejo -- a recipe I'll be sharing next season) or these terrific crab cakes.

A distinction about these favorite cakes is that they are bound ever-so-slightly with a cream sauce that (kind of) disappears over the palate once cooked, making the cakes very light and resonant of the crab rather than made dense with most other binders. The white sauce when cooked tends to expand much like a "soufflé in principle where the flaked crab meat is enrobed by the sauce leaving little trace of the material structure remaining which does not cloud the delicate flavors of the, at once, briny and sweet crab meat. These Northwest-style cakes are a nice alternative to Maryland-style crab cakes, with bread crumb and egg being principal ingredients that defines those traditional American favorites. Try serving these cakes with a simple cabbage and apple slaw or with watercress dressed with lemon and nut oil.

Serves 4 as a light lunch or appetizer

For Thick White Sauce to bind the crab cakes

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

pinch salt

pinch white pepper

pinch cayenne pepper or (substitute a dash of hot sauce)

pinch nutmeg

dash Worcestershire Sauce

For the crab cakes

1¼ pounds cooked Dungeness crab meat, picked

2 green onions, root trimmed and finely sliced

12 basil leaves, stemmed and sliced finely

1/3 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3/4 cup, cold white sauce

1/2 cup coarse bread or cracker crumbs

oil for cooking

To make the Sauce

Place the milk in a saucepan and bring it to a very gentle simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another saucepan over medium-high heat and stir the flour into the butter with a metal whisk or wooden spoon. Cook the butter-flour mixture for 4-5 minutes, then gradually pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture while stirring constantly to combine the ingredients into a smooth sauce. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rapid boil while stirring constantly. Decrease the heat to medium. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, and Worcestershire sauce to the mixture and cook, stirring from time to time, for about 10 minutes. Transfer the sauce into a bowl and let it cool completely while preparing the crab.

To make the cakes

Measure the crabmeat into a bowl and pick over the meat to remove any pieces of shell or cartilage. Add the green onions, basil, lemon zest, and white sauce. Work the ingredients gently with a fork to combine, leaving crab claws or lump pieces whole for a more defined and pleasant flavor and texture.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over a clean work surface. Divide the crab cake mixture evenly into eight. Place one cake on the crumbs, shaping the cakes while doing so. I like to have a crust on both the top and bottom of the cakes but prefer to leave the sides free of crumbs.

To cook the cakes

Heat some oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cakes, leaving space between the cakes and cooking in batches if necessary. Cook each cake until golden brown, for about 4-6 minutes on each side, transferring to a warm platter until all cakes are cooked.

Notes:

Try substituting the 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with a generous 1/4 cup of potato, rice or corn starch for a more delicate flavored but slightly crispier crust.
Crabmeat cooked and picked from your favorite type of local crab will work famously as a stand-in for the Dungeness variety we love that occurs here in the Pacific Ocean.

Dungeness Crab: Last of Season and Best Cakes Recipe Ever!