Hey folks, blue crab season is on its way, and you have every reason to cook crab at home! We all like to eat out, but for the price of one jumbo crab cake restaurant dinner, you can make awesome crab cakes for 8 at home!
This delicious sesame panko crab cakes recipe was Sarah’s creation after Judy and I sent her photos of our dining experiences from our recent road trip.
Flashback:
Bill: Hey, how about if we do a road trip to the south and hit some cities?
Judy: Yeah sure, why not? When do you want to go?
Bill: How’s next Monday?
Judy: Yeah sure, why not…
And off we went after we identified a general path from New Jersey down to Key West, over to Texas and back home. No plans except for some selected cities we have never been to and our mobile phones equipped with Yelp, TripAdvisor and Hotels.com guiding us along the way.
Annapolis, MD was our first stop (after a quick visit in Philly with Kaitlin to drop off Barley before the trip. We had lots of oysters, fish and crab, and even though we were early for crab season, it didn’t stop the restaurants from serving all kinds of crab dishes. I raved so much about the crab cakes that Sarah decided to make a batch of these sesame panko crab cakes when we returned home. Hence, the birth of another tasty recipe!
Sesame Panko Crab Cakes: Recipe Instructions
Whisk together mayonnaise, scallions, eggs, mustard, Old Bay seasoning (you can find it at any major grocery store), and lime juice. Fold in the crab, followed by 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs, toasted sesame seeds, and salt and pepper to taste.
Divide into 8 equal portions, and form into patties. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
While the crab cakes are chilling, prepare the tartar sauce by stirring together all the ingredients in a medium bowl. In a non-stick or cast iron skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Dredge the crab cakes in the remaining 1/2 cup of panko.
Fry until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Serve with tartar sauce and lime wedges.
If you want to splurge and go over the top, you can double the amount of crab per portion and make 4 jumbo cakes like they do at the Boat House Bar and Grill in Annapolis.
Downtown Annapolis is very quaint and, while slightly touristy, full of history. It was the perfect place to spend a half day. The United States Naval Academy was definitely the highlight of our visit. You can join a guided tour or walk through yourself as long as you show your picture ID at the front gate.
We also visited the Maryland State House, built in 1772, the oldest state capital building still in daily use.
From Annapolis, we went on to Richmond, where we visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. It was a little too early to enjoy the springtime flowers outside, but the grounds and the conservatory and greenhouse were beautiful.
We also stopped by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see a special Van Gogh exhibit, drove by the Virginia Capitol building, Monument Avenue and Carytown, an artsy section of Richmond with a great selection of restaurants and shopping.
We had some delightful fried oysters and a salad Nicoise at the Can Can Brasserie as well. Having the traditional Nicoise did remind of us of Sarah’s Salmon Salad Nicoise, which uses fresh salmon instead of canned tuna!
Next stops on our trip were Charleston and Savannah! We’ll have a few more road trip recipes to share with you over the next few weeks; look out for them on Mondays!
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Recipe
Sesame Panko Crab Cakes with Cilantro Lime Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
For the crab cakes:
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 scallions (chopped)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 pound lump crabmeat (picked over)
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (plus ½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- salt and pepper
- oil (for cooking)
For the tartar sauce:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons pickles (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons red onion (chopped)
- ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Whisk together mayonnaise, scallions, eggs, mustard, Old Bay (you can find it at any major grocery store), and lime juice. Fold in the crab, followed by 1 1/2 cups panko, sesame seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Divide into 8 equal portions, and form into patties. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- While the crab cakes are chilling, prepare the tartar sauce by stirring together all the ingredients in a medium bowl. In a non-stick or cast iron skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Dredge the crab cakes in the remaining 1/2 cup of panko and fry until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Serve with tartar sauce and lime wedges.
