Corn Crab Cakes with Sweet & Spicy Sauce

delicate crab cakes studded with sweet golden nuggets

One of my favorite things to order at a restaurant are crab cakes. They can be made in so many different ways and paired with many different flavors. One of the best crab cakes I've ever had is at WG Kitchen & Bar. WG is a local Ohio restaurant with 7 locations. If you can make it to one, I highly recommend the dinner portion crab cakes. The appetizer version, while good, is not stuffed with nearly as much crab.

I've taken a stab at creating my own version of a crab cake. And, while I have to say these are tasty, they didn't work out exactly how I wanted them to. The plan was to cook them on the stove top, but these are so delicate that I had to finish them off in the oven...they were never going to make the flip. If you are up for a bit of trial and error, take a stab at making these yourself. Here's how...

Recipe - Serves 4
Corn Crab Cakes
12oz. Lump Crab Meat, drained & picked over for shells
2 Ears Corn
1C Panko, more as needed
1 Egg
2 Scallions, chopped
1/4C Cilantro, chopped
1T Soy Sauce
2T Peanut Oil

Sweet & Spicy Sauce
3T Honey
1T Sambal Oelek

Directions

Begin by making the cakes: combine the crab, corn (cut kernels off), panko, egg, scallions, cilantro, and soy sauce in a large bowl. Mix well first with a fork and then with your hands. Try to form a loose cake. If the mixture is too wet, add more panko a little at a time until a loose cake can be formed. Build 8 cakes - there will be bits of corn that won't incorporate, this is okay.

After forming the cakes, heat the peanut oil on med-high in a large caste iron skillet (or oven proof skillet). Also, preheat the broiler to high and move the oven rack up to the second spot from the top. When the oil is nearly smoking add the cakes. Allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and continue cooking the cakes until they are golden brown, approximately 6-8 minutes.

While the cakes are cooking in the oven, make the sweet and spicy sauce. Combine the honey and sambal in a small dish; mix well. Sambal Oelek can be found in the international aisle of a regular grocery store. It will be with the Asian/Thai ingredients. It is full of flavor, but be careful...it is spicy!

Plate the cakes and drizzle a little of the sauce over top. I served these with a side salad. Fingers crossed yours turn out like mine! :)