Jumbo Lump Crabcakes with Cucumber Carrot Salad Recipe

Serves 6

Wine Suggestion: Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients:

  • Crab Cakes:
  • 1 cup soy oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion, small dice
  • 3/4 cup chopped peppers (red, green and yellow)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tbsp Tabasco
  • 1 tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce
  • 1 lb jumbo lump crabmeat, uncleaned
  • 1 1/2 tbsp each of fresh dill, chives and parsley, cleaned
  • Stems
  • 1 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (crusts removed)
  • 1 cup Japanese bread crumbs (Panko)
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground white pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • Vegetable oil for sauting
  • Chipotle Sauce:
  • 2 chipotle peppers in 1 tablespoon Adobo sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
  • 1/2 cup of cilantro, washed and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 2 cups soy oil
  • Nuoc Cham Sauce:
  • 2 small cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/4 cup Vietnamese fish sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy oil
  • 1/2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 whole medium carrots, peeled
  • 1 large turnip, peeled and sliced into matchsticks using a mandolin
  • 1 gourmet cucumber, scored and split
  • 3 tablespoons fresh mint, chiffonade

    • Instructions:

    Base:

    1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
    2. In a sauce pan over medium heat, place the oil, onions and peppers, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.
    3. Combine the 3 egg yolks, lime juice, mustard, Tabasco, fish sauce in a large bowl.
    4. Remove the oil and vegetables from the heat.
    5. Slowly pour into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
    6. Begin by pouring with small splashes, incorporating the oil completely before adding more.
    7. The heat of the oil will cook the yolks as you go, and you should end up with a hollandaise-like sauce when all the oil has been blended.
    8. Return the saucepan to the heat for 30 seconds, whisking constantly to insure that sauce is fully incorporated.
    9. Set the saucepan down over a bowl of ice and whisk to cook quickly.
    10. Refrigerate the sauce covered, until it is well-chilled.

    Chipotle Sauce:
    11. Process all the ingredients, except for the soy oil.
    12. With the machine running, add the oil in a slow stream until the sauce is emulsified.
    13. Taste. Add more oil if necessary.
    14. Reserve.

    Crab Cakes:
    15. Pick over crab meat to remove any shell pieces.
    16. Add the herbs and gently toss, taking care not to break up the crab.
    17. Add two or three heaping tablespoons of the chilled sauce base to the crab and gently combine.
    18. Add enough of the bread crumbs to bind the crab mixture.
    19. Check to see that the mixture is moist (the bread crumbs will absorb moisture as the crab mix sits) and add more sauce or bread crumbs as needed.
    20. Add the white pepper and taste for seasoning.
    21. Form the crab into little cakes, about 2 inches in diameter.
    22. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs.
    23. One at a time, coat each crab cake with egg. Then, coat with Japanese bread crumbs.
    24. Heat 1/4 of vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
    25. Sauteing in batches, brown the crab cakes on both sides and reserve on a platter.
    26. Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 2-3 minutes to heat through, and serve.

    Nuoc Cham Sauce:
    27. Cut the vegetables and make the salad . Blend salad ingredients and toss in 1/2 cup of Nuoc Cham Sauce.
    28. To Serve: Artfully arrange the salad at one end and two crabcakes at the other.
    29. Drizzle the Chipotle sauce in between the two in a zig zag pattern.