No Bread Crumb Dungeness Crab Cakes

Ingredients

6 fresh Dungeness whole crab (or about 3 cups)

1/4 cup finely chopped garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped carrot

2 eggs

Paprika

Salt and pepper

Fresh parsley

Preparation

Place live crabs, together in a paper bag, into the freezer for about an hour.

Bring a very large pot of salted water to boil. Once it reaches boiling, reduce and add as many crabs as you can and cover. Boil on medium for 25. Remove and let cool while you cook the rest of the crabs.

Once cooled off, on a large clean surface begin cracking and removing the flesh from inside the crab and collect to a large bowl. Squeeze out any excess water from the crab meat and set aside to cool.

Begin finely chopping the garlic, onion, celery and carrot into really small pieces. And in a large pan, lightly sauté the vegetables together until tender.

Add them to the bowl of crab and toss well to mix, adding salt, pepper and pinch of paprika to taste. You can add other herbs like freshly chopped parsley at this time as well but optional. Let the mixture cool to room temp.

Once the mixture is cool enough, add the eggs one at a time. The egg acts as your binding agent, so one egg might be enough. Goal here is not to have the mixture too egg, but enough so that it does not fall apart when you begin cooking. Using your hands or large spoons, form the mixture into small balls and lightly flatten to make little crab patties.

In a large pan, heat ¼ inch of cooking oil. Once hot, place the patties one at a time and cook until golden brown before flipping. Approximately 2 minutes on each side.

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About

California coast is great for its Dungeness crabs, and where there are crabs there are versions of crab cakes to be found. This particular crab cake is a family recipe and is mostly made during the holiday season because 1) it's great to entertain with and 2) because winter months is crab season!

Do be warned that it tends to be a lot of prep work, but know that it is sure worth the wait. Prepare these for appetizers, as main course or for a delicious Benedict brunch.