Crab patties

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 16

Crab patties

Alison Hoist’s

Food Facts

It ’is always exciting when a new food appears in stores, and on restaurant menus.

In the last few months crab-meat has appeared in . “delis” and restaurants in many parts of the country. It is a food to which I was introduced nearly 20 years : ago, in California, and I enjoy very much. I must hasten to say that crab-meat will only be appearing on special occasions in our house, because it is far from cheap. However, since I have [caught, cooked, and cleaned crabs myself, and know just how many crabs must be dismembered, and what a long time it takes to produce [ a little pile of crab meat, I will cheerfully pay for someone else to do all this work for me. One of my favourite crab: recipes is for crab cakes or patties. I have eaten these with great enjoyment in many parts of America, but I usually associate them with New Orleans. The crab cakes there are quite highly spiced, as are many of the other foods of this area. When I make them here I want to add enough seasoning to bring out the delicate crab flavour, but not [so much that it is overwhelmed. I also want to make the crab-meat I have, go a reasonable distance. This recipe makes eight crab patties. As long as you [ are serving other food, such as salad and bread rolls with them, eight patties will serve four people. For three, form the mixture into nine patties. Another way to make a few patties go further is to serve them in hamburger buns, but if you are not careful you can lose the flavour this way too. For 8 to 9 patties you need: 250 g (1 small pottle) era eat.

2 eggs 1 I Tbsp Worcestershire sauce. i/ 2 tsp salt. j i/g tsp hot pepper sauce. 2 spring onions, chapped. 2 Tbsp chopped parsley. About 1 cup soft bread- [ crumbs. Or about i/ 2 cup dry breadcrumbs. First, check to make sure there are no pieces of shell in the crab-meat. For this recipe it jvill not matter if you have a little more or less than the amount specified. If you are measuring : the volume, rather than weighing it, you will need about a cup of fairly tightly packed flesh. Put the crab-meat aside. Put the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and hot. sauce into a fairly large bowl. Beat with la fork until combined, tijen add the finely-chopped spring onion and the parsley. Stir in the crab-meat. For preference, in this recipe use crumbs made from fairly stale white or light brown bread. Tf you do not have these, use dry bread crumbs. Vjou will need a smaller anpount of dry crumbs, but the exact amount of either will depend on the finer ess and dryness of the [crumbs. Stir the crumbs into the mixture slowly, stirring gently, until you have a mixture firm enough to drop from a spoon and keep its shape. De not add more crumbs tian you need. Heat a large, heavybottomed pan. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter, let it melt, then bubble, and drop in the crab patties before it browns. Adjust the heat so that the first side browns in 2 to 3 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Make sure that the centre is firm before) serving them, but do not overcook them. Serve as quickly as possible. 1 '■**