Living near Mumbai, I grew up eating crab curry in India and remember having live crabs brought into our home and my mother and grandmother preparing them. There were even a few episodes of fingers getting caught between claws or an escaped crab here and there crawling around the floor. The flavor of that spicy curry with the flavor of crab abound and the sweet crab meat is a fond memory for me. After moving to the US, we didn’t have crab curry often. It was difficult to find fresh crabs, but my family would often make the trip to Baltimore, MD for blue claws with old bay seasoning served on paper by the dozens with ice cold beer. Those are also fond crab memories for me.
As I’ve gotten older, I just don’t enjoy the process of cracking a crab any more. The meat to work ratio is just not worth it and I suppose what I really enjoyed about the trips to Baltimore was the time together. Now I prefer to have dishes with the crab meat already removed, and I love a good crab cake. But it’s hard to find good crab cakes in restaurants and when you do, they are often priced steeply. Most are often dry, have too many fillers or the crab meat is all mushed up. So, I started making my own. I modify the ingredients each time to try something new but I always try to leave the crab lumps as whole as possible and never add too many fillers.
Recently I made this recipe. I had made a batch of schug for a dinner party and thought it would be a good addition to the crab cakes. I’ll be honest, I’ve become addicted to this fresh and spicy condiment. I put it on everything from eggs to sandwiches to grilled fish and chicken. I’m sad I didn’t discover it sooner. I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know if you become as addicted to schug as I am.
Spicy Crab Cakes
Ingredients
- For the Schug :
- 20 Serrano Chiles – stems removed
- 1 Cup Parsley leaves
- 1 Cup Cilantro leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp ground cardamom
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Cup canola oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped finely
- 1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp Schug/Zhub (see recipe below)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 4 – 5 cornichon, chopped finely
- 1 large egg
- Zest of one lemon
- Juice of half lemon
- 1 lb jumbo lump crab meat
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
Place all ingredients except the oil in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not a paste. Remove to a jar, and stir in the oil. Can be stored in refrigerator for up to one month
Crabcakes :
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the cilantro, parsley, baking powder, Schug, mustard, Worcestershire, mayonnaise, cornichon, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
2. Add the crab meat and bread crumbs and gently combine by using your hands with fingers apart in a claw shape. Try to leave the crab meat as intact as possible while mixing. Do not over mix.
3. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat over to 475 F.
5. Divide the mixture into four equal portions. Very carefully form each portion into a crabcake pressing only enough to bring together into a large thick round. Place on a baking sheet lightly greased with olive oil (I line mine with foil and grease the foil only where I place the crabcakes). Repeat with the other three crab cakes
6. Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 20 minutes.
7. Turn on the broiler and broil crab cakes for 3 – 5 minutes until browned & crispy on top
8. Remove and serve immediately with you favorite tartar sauce or combine 1/2 Cup Greek yogurt, 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp Schug to make your own fiery sauce.
The Persnickety Palate 