Make a basic white heavy sauce.....and add lemon to the crab and just enough of the white sauce to bind it.

I use Veloute sauce made with fish stock or clam juice, as I have to avoid milk should avoid bechamel sauce. I always keep lobster soup base on hand, and so I use that mixed with water instead of fish stock, or I use crab soup base. If you have potato starch, you will not have to make a roux. Instead of crab cakes, I tend to make a deviled crab casserole, but the basic recipe is the same.

Does your recipe include eggs?

Lars

Great info as I am a MAYO HATER!!! LOL!!! I love crab but never could find a non mayo recipe may have to try this for Easter! THANKS!!!

Thanks for the advice.... I had to go out anyway for something else so I just picked up some Mayo.... I didn't want to do all the work of making a special sauce and I never have crab or fish stock/base on hand... They were the best crab cakes I've ever made though :o)

Here's a variation, Thai style crab cakes. We love them! You can sub chicken for the crab/shrimp mixture.

Chilli Crab Cakes with Chilli Lime Dipping Sauce

12oz crab meat
12oz raw shrimp flesh
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 egg
2 spring onions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce

Process all until combined. Shape tablespoons of mixture into patties and fry in peanut oil (actually I generally use canola).

Serve with dipping sauce and lime wedges.

Dipping Sauce:

2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 fresh Kaffir Lime leaf, finely shredded, or 1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce

Mix all ingredients together.

You could simply have made some mayonnaise!!!

I peeped in too late.
You could have made some Mayo in a minute.

In a mixing bowl,
Put in 1 egg
Garlic powder to taste ( 1/2 to 1 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon of mustard
half teaspoon of Lemon Juice or a teaspoon of white wine.
Pinch of salt
Pinch of Pepper ( optional )

Mix this well than add a half cup of Vegetable Oil slowly and beat until it thickens.
Lou

Yeah but then you have to eat raw eggs.... at least the store bought stuff is pasturized!

I was going to say that I don't think I've ever made a crab cake with mayonnaise. But I do use oil and a beaten egg as binder, and garlic plus lemon zest as flavours - so I guess that ends up being a deconstructed sort of mayo. Mmm, feeling like a crab cake soon. I see some crabs destined for the pot before long.

Are there particular problems with US eggs?

Some people worry about salmonella in raw eggs. The official US govt (USDA) recommendation is to not eat raw eggs. I ignore that, as explained here.

It appears there is a way to more or less pasteurize a raw egg mixture during the making of mayonnaise at home or in a restaurant. See this link:

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Mayonnaise.html

The first step is to recognize that if the egg yolk protein is mixed with an equal volume of water and from one-third to an equal volume of lemon juice or vinegar, the temperature at which coagulation of the egg yolk protein occurs is raised. When the egg yolk/acid mixture is heated to 150F (65.6C), vegetative pathogenic bacteria are reduced at least 100,000 to 1 CFU/g, while the egg yolk proteins have not been heated sufficiently to denature and coagulate because of the water dilution and acid. It is critically important that an accurate thermocouple thermometer (such as the Atkins 33040� ) be used to measure the temperature of the mixture. Temperature measurement is necessary to ensure that the mixture is heated to 150F (65.6C) to assure safety, but not heated to temperatures above this point [approximately 180 to 190F (82.2 to 87.8C)] which cause the yolk proteins to coagulate.

I don't know if the water in the above process can be replaced by oil. If someone who is more knowledgeable about mayonnaise reads the link, they may glean more info. I also don't know about other pasteurization processes that might be feasible at home.

Personally, I don't worry about it. From the reading I've done, it looks like the probability of an individual egg being contaminated with salmonella is around 1 in 30,000. Which is extremely low risk compared to other things we do in life.

Note that in institutions where dozens of eggs are combined in a recipe, the risk is higher, because you are multiplying 1/30,000 by dozens (not exactly the math, but close enough). And obviously in commercial processed food operations where hundreds of eggs are being combined, the risk would be higher yet - which is why they use commercially pasteurized eggs.

I guess you can buy commercially pasteurized eggs in some retail places. I've seen them occasionally.

But if you're mixing in the raw egg mayo with the crab and cooking the crab cakes, well, it's not raw anymore is it? I mean, I mix an egg in with raw potatoes, for example, and cook latkes. Sure, it's raw, but then it cooks. Same for the homemade mayo mixed in with crab meat and fried... it cooks.

May, about an hour after I posted that I had the same thought! I thought, I COULD make my own may if I'm cooking the crab cakes! DUH! :O)

I've never made crab cakes with mayo before either, but I must say Bobby, your crab cakes look delicious.

Colleen, I'm saving your recipe. I love the idea of Thai crab cakes. Have you ever added fresh garlic to the mix?

Ann

A few thoughts:

1. Crab meat has a very delicate flavor. I don't understand why all the crab cake recipes are so over-seasoned. You do end up with very delicious crab cakes, but they don't taste any different than fish cakes.

2. Trader Joe's has the best crab meat.

3. Cooking eggs is very tricky because the white and the yolk cook differently and every few degrees make a big difference in texture. You cannot be sure of accurate temperature even if you use a thermometer to check. Sous vide cooker give you the absolute temperature control. If you want 150 degrees, set it and that's all you will be getting. No more and no less. You can do one egg or a doz eggs at one time. I have enjoyed eating and using very runny eggs in recipes with a great deal of confidence in safety.

dcarch

I haven't, Ann... I think it might overwhelm the flavour. The curry paste has a bit in it already.

Low spark:
Glad you brought that up. !!!

DCarch :
I'm not building a Sous Vide cooker. I don't even know what it means. LOL !!!
I'll bring the meat and you do the cooking ?
**********************

Years ago I would put eggs in with Orange Juice, Bananas and blend them, for an energy drink.

Lou

I applaud you for finding at a mayo subsitute. As disgusting as mayo is cold, it becomes even more virulent on a warm dish. My advice is to mash up some avocados to use as a filler. It will create the right consistency and the marriage of avocado with seafood has been time tested. So it will taste great. Remember, the avocado is routinely included in California Rolls which contains??? Yup, you guessed it, crab!!!

So good luck to you and thanka for speaking out against mayonnaise!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hold The Mayo

I make salmon patties using mashed potato and an egg and yellow mustard as a binder, along with minced onions and seasoning. That would work as well, just omit the mustard in case it overpowers the crab or just use a smidge.

I have a salmon patty recipe that calls for sour cream to bind. I got if from a Salmon patty thread I saved. I'll bet it would work with crab. I have not tried it. It's from SharonFl who I can't quite remember.

1 lb. crab (or can of salmon)
1/3 cup chopped green pepper (could leave out as I know you hate veggies!)
1/3 cup diced sweet onion
2/3 cup cracker crumbs (or bread crumbs)
1 heaping TBLSP parsley flakes (or leave out)
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning (I never have this, I just sub whatever seasoned pepper or salt that I have on hand)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. paprika
grated lemon rind
2 TBLSP lemon juice
Mix well with your hands. Shape into balls--packing mixture tightly in your palms, then flattened into coins about 1 inch thick.
Heat a mix of oil and butter in a frying pan. Fry over med. heat for 3 min. per side.
Serve with chili sauce or tartar sauce or whatever you like.

The recipe I use, (from Elphaba) calls for no mayo at all and it's really simple and can be dolled up or not.

2 eggs or 4 egg whites if you are a calorie scrimper like me.
1/4 tsp. dried mustard
2 TBLSP apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. red cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. minced dried onion or 1 TBLSP fresh onion, minced
dried parsley to taste (optional)
1 lb. crab or can of salmon
1 cup bread crumbs
Shape into patties, fry in canola or olive oil. Fry about 2 1/2 min. on each side.

I found a Rachael Ray recipe for crab cakes. Rachael does not like mayo so I was confident it would be ommited and I was correct! I like that she uses red wine vinegar though . (in addition to her text book EVOO) Someone above did not like the fact I recommended avocados as a subsitute and that I happened to write a blog article about that. Oh well, can't seem to please everyone. But this recipe is directly from Rachael's Ray site and it sounds really tasty. (and looks to be mayo free!)

Ingredients
1 starchy potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
Coarse salt
Handful fresh flat leaf parsley
Couple sprigs fresh thyme, leaves finely chopped
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tubs fresh lump crabmeat (6 ounces) , available at fresh seafood counter
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
2 roasted red peppers
1 small shallot, chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Black pepper
1 small head escarole, chopped
1 small head radicchio, chopped
1 endive, chopped
Preparation
Cook potatoes in boiling water 6-7 minutes until tender, drain, scatter across a large flat surface to cool and dry, 5 minutes. Smash the garlic with salt to make a paste and add to potatoes along with thyme, parsley, lemon zest and crushed red pepper flakes. Feel through the crab as you add it to the potatoes to check for shells. Mix together to combine and form into 4 (4-5-inch) super sized, killer crab cakes.

Heat 3 tablespoons EVOO in a non stick skillet over medium to medium- high heat. Add the cakes and cook 5 minutes on each side or until deep golden brown.

Combine the roasted red peppers, shallot, sugar, the juice of 1/2 lemon and the red wine vinegar in a food processor. Stream in the remaining 1/4 cup EVOO and form a dressing. Stop the processor and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine the greens in a salad bowl and dress them. Adjust salt and pepper, to your taste.

have never, ever used mayo in my crab cakes ... and don't use pepper except black .. with the price of lump backfin crab meat, I want it to be the star!!!

here's my fav recipe

MARYLAND INN CRABCAKES
Makes 4 servings
Source Maryland Seafood Cookbook 2 from the Maryland Inn, Annapolis

1 pound lump backfin crab meat picked over to remove cartilage
1 egg beaten slightly
1 slice cubed white bread
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

In medium bowl, mix egg, bread and seasonings. Toss to mix. Add crab meat. Mix gently but thoroughly. Shape into 6 patties. Place on cookie sheet and chill covered for 30 minutes. (This helps cakes hold shape while cooking.) Cook crab cakes in heavy fry pan in just enough oil to prevent sticking until browned -- about 5 minutes on each side.

I do something similar to kayskats recipe, but substitute 2 tablespoons of Panko bread crumbs for the cubed white bread.

Kayskats is right on the money. The crab is the star so why dilute with mayo. That's another role of mayo- the great diluter of life. Takes away flavor butdoes manage to add cholesterol. That's a lose-lose. I have the same issue with horseradish. Why buy a diluted version with mayo added on? Makes no sense!

LOL, seriously, we get it. You dislike mayo. Oh wait, sorry, not a strong enough word per the instructions on your website. You cannot stand that vile, disgusting crap. But complain about the cholesterol? Make mayo from scratch and you're looking at a "staggering" 6% dv per tbsp, commercial brands are about a third of that, "lite" versions negligible enough to allow the labels to say 0%. The egg alone in kayskats recipe would yield about 19% per serving. The crab meat itself, around 11%. If you want to complain about fillers, perhaps the empty carbs from the slice of white bread is a better place to start. And flavor - if you don't want to mask the pure crab meat why aren't you complaining about the worcestershire, salt, pepper, mustard, lemon juice? Someone might not like to add one of those flavors. Big deal, leave it out. No need to make a case out of it.

That said, I rarely use mayo in my crab cakes. These recipes look good!

Very valid points about the cholesterol, foodonastump, especially what you said about the white bread. Thanks for sharing your nutritional insight. But as far as complaining about the other side ingredients, there really is no formal vernacular in the English language for "hold the mustard." There are no organized hate groups both on and offline against worcherstershire. (with the holdthatmayo group, we were not the first and certainly will not be the last) Like it or not, Mayo is a controversial substance that stirs up nauseau at the molecular level. Something as innocent as lemon juice will never stir up those emotions on either side of the equation. One last point about the subsitutes. For some, mustard might make the crab cake a little too spicy. So for those in that situation who are looking for something with a closer consistency to mayonnaise, how about trying sour cream or perhaps some plain greek yogurt?

Since when did mayo become evil? Now, if you were talking about Miracle Whip, you might have something.

holdthatmayo - I find more than a little disturbing your implied suggestion that the mere existence of public hate groups validates their causes. Doesn't take much imagination to take you to very dark places.

That notwithstanding... Ok, you say that lemon isn't controvertial. So what's so evil, the oil or the egg? Or is it the whisk?

It's only the combination of those two main ingredients that make it harmful By themselves, they are pure and innocent. But all of this tongue in cheek food ridicule is starting to be taken way too seriously on this board. So in an effort to get things back on point and summarize, the orginal poster was looking for possible subsitutes for mayo in a crab cake scenario. I feel possible options would be mashed avocado,sour cream or greek yogurt. Also Rachael Ray has a fairly involved recipe that is mayo free, which is almost always a requirement with her. I am including that direct link below.

Happy crab-caking everyone!

Here is a link that might be useful: mayo-free crab cakes