Maryland Crab Cake

As tradition built it

Maryland Crab Cake

Pan-fry 3 to 4 minutes a side, or broil about 5 minutes; makes 4 to 6 cakes

Ingredients

• 1 lb backfin or jumbo lump crabmeat
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise, a little
• 1/4 cup saltine crumbs cracker or breadcrumb
• 1 tsp Old Bay
• 1 tsp dry mustard mustard

Method

1. Bind the backfin or jumbo lump crabmeat as lightly as possible with egg, a little mayonnaise, cracker or breadcrumb, Old Bay and mustard.
2. Shape with a gentle hand to avoid breaking the lumps apart.
3. Pan-fry or broil.

Notes

Baltimore's own Gertrude's serves both styles side by side on one menu, a broiled “Gertie's” with rosemary potatoes, apple-fennel slaw and a basil-caper tartar, and a fried “Boardwalk” version with mustard sauce and Old Bay, a clean illustration of tradition and refinement coexisting rather than one replacing the other.

What a modern chef changes

An emulsified Old Bay binder in place of loose mayonnaise

Method

1. Make the binder itself in the high-power blender from egg yolk, a little of the crab's own cooking liquor and a spoonful of Old Bay, an emulsified sauce rather than a loose mayonnaise, so far less of it is needed to hold the cake together and even more crab is left visible and intact.
2. Cook the cake to a precise internal temperature sous vide in a lightly oiled bag before its final sear, guaranteeing the centre is never underdone while the crust still gets a hard, hot, buttery finish on the Big Green Egg's plancha.
3. Dust the Old Bay itself through the spice grinder immediately before use rather than from an opened tin, for a genuinely brighter, less musty hit of paprika and celery salt.