What are crabcakes?

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Find out what crabcakes are and how to serve them at any meal

Crabcakes may sound like an unappealing name for a cake, however don’t be fooled by a name! The traditional American dish is a savory meal prepared similarly to meat cakes or fish cakes.

Served as an appetizer or entree, these cakes are nothing like the sweet cakes typically enjoyed for dessert. Crabcakes are made of a mixture of crab meat with various other ingredients most often consisting of eggs, milk, bread crumbs or mayonnaise. Each of these ingredients serve as binding agents to hold the mixture together and form it into a patty.

Crabcakes can be enjoyed as a light lunch, brunch or with dinner as a stand-alone entree, or as a component in a recipe, like Crabcake Eggs Benedict.

Heritage

Crabcakes are most popular in coastal areas that boast successful crabbing industries such as New England, the Gulf Coast, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

Since crab species vary, there may be different types of crab meat used to make crabcakes depending on the area you live in or are visiting. For instance, blue crab meat from Chesapeake Bay is considered to be the most delicious by many fish connoisseurs whereas the Pacific Northwest boasts meat from the Dungeness Crab.

Maryland types

The state of Maryland is well-known for its Maryland crabcakes of which there are two types: Boardwalk and Restaurant. Boardwalk cakes are usually served on a hamburger bun, filled with various ingredients, and fried and breaded just as a beef burger would be.

In contrast, Restaurant cakes consist of all-lump crab meat with no fillers added. These cakes are served open-face sandwich style of on a seafood platter.

Crab meat

Crabcakes are not only tasty, they can also be healthy depending of course on what ingredients you are using and how much of it you eat. Seafood such as crab meat is a great source of protein as well as healthy fats such as the omega-3’s. Protein is needed for the growth and repair of muscle tissue in the body while healthy fats are essential for the absorption of vitamins and minerals and healthy skin and nails.

However, crab meat is also higher in cholesterol than other lean meat sources. Hence, if you have cholesterol problems, consider minimizing your intake of crabcakes to once or twice a month instead of a couple of times a week.

Add veggies

An excellent addition to crabcakes during preparation is vegetables. Vegetables like onions, shredded carrots and celery are typical mainstays added to the crab meat for extra flavor, texture and binding. Adding veggies is a great way to lower fat content since you may be able to use less oil or mayonnaise to hold the mixture together.

Kids that are picky eaters will also eat up hidden veggies without even knowing it if they love their little round crabcakes baked to a golden perfection!

No matter how you order, make, bake, fry or serve it, crabcakes are a traditional favorite among foodies and are sure to be new favorite to people new to the tantalizing delicacy. Bon appetit!

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