These make a great starter, or you could shape smaller ones to serve as canapés. If you find some wild sorrel, you can chop a few leaves very finely and use it instead of the lemon zest; it would be good in the herby mayo too.
Ingredients
For the Crab Cakes
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp very finely chopped celery
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp soured cream
- ½ tsp English mustard powder
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives
- 1 small lemon finely grated zest (or some finely chopped sorrel)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp salt
- 12 g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 300 g Crab meat, picked over
- clarified or unsalted butter, for shallow-frying
- Lemon wedges, to serve
For the Herby Mayonnaise
- 4 tbsp good mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp soured cream
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp finely chopped chives (or finely chopped sorrel)
How to Make It
-
First make the herby mayonnaise
- Whisk all of the ingredients together, spoon into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed.
- For the Crab cakes, melt the 20 g butter in a small frying pan over a low heat, add the shallots and celery, and sauté gently until softened, about 8 minutes. Leave to cool.
- Put the egg yolk, soured cream, mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, chives, lemon zest, a few grinds of black pepper and the salt into a large bowl and whisk together until evenly combined. Stir in the shallots and celery, together with 2 tbsp of the breadcrumbs.
- Gently stir in the Crab meat, then form the mixture into 4 cakes, about 5 cm in diameter. Spread the rest of the breadcrumbs out on a plate and coat each Crab cake generously. Place on a tray, cover loosely and refrigerate for an hour, or up to a day.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the Crab cakes for 3–4 minutes on each side. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, with the mayonnaise and lemon wedges.