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Episode 312: Maryland Crab Feast

Smoke-Grilled Maryland Crab Cakes, Sriracha Cocktail Sauce

Smoke grilled Maryland crab cakes, Sriracha Cocktail Sauce

Other Recipes from Episode 312: Maryland Crab Feast


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Smoke-Grilled Maryland Crab Cakes, Sriracha Cocktail Sauce

Recipe Notes

  • Yield: Makes 4 crab cakes

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons Chesapeake seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann’s
  • Coarse salt (sea or kosher)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat, thoroughly picked over for stray shell bits
  • 1/2 cup fine cracker crumbs (preferably made from crushed saltines)

  • Clarified butter

You’ll also need:

  • hardwood chunks or chips (unsoaked)

Recipe Steps

1: Place the egg, mustard, seafood seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise in a mixing bowl and whisk to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (The seafood seasoning is salty, of course.) Add the crab and cracker crumbs and fold in with a rubber spatula, working as gently as possible so as not to break up the crab meat. Chill the mixture for 30 minutes.

2: Wet your hands and divide the crab mixture into 4 portions. Form each one into a patty about 1-1/2 inches thick. (Good crab cakes are supposed to be thick.) Place on a plate or baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3: Meanwhile, set up your grill for modified direct grilling; mound the coals more thickly on the sides and more thinly in the middle. Place a plancha or cast iron skillet in the middle of the grill and heat it as well.

4: Butter the plancha with a pastry brush, moving it around to grease the plancha. Arrange the crab cakes on the plancha. Add the wood chunks to the coals and close the grill lid to hold in the smoke.

5: Grill the crab cakes until browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush the tops with clarified butter. Gently turn with a spatula cook the other side the same way. (Again, replace the lid.)

6: Transfer the crab cakes to a platter or plates and serve with the Sriracha Cocktail Sauce.

Recipe Tips

Our thanks to the sponsors of Project Fire Season 3:

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Steven Raichlen’s Project Fire is a production of Maryland Public Television, Barbacoa, Inc., and Resolution Pictures. © 2021 Barbacoa, Inc. Photos by Chris Bierlein

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