Sunday, August 9, 2009

Not So Crabby Cakes

I am never 100% satisfied with the lump crab meat available at my supermarket. I always give it another shot and end up being incredibly disappointed with the freshness of the crab and spend the entire meal devastated that I spent 19.99 on a pound of sub par crab meat. It took me a while, but I learned my lesson. I try not to cook with crab while in DC. But there are crab dishes that I miss - like crab cakes. The idea of these shrimp cakes really intrigued me since it was an awesome alternative to the crab cake.

Spicy Shrimp Cakes with Corn and Avocado Salsa
Adapted from Cooking Light November 2006

Yield

5 Servings

Ingredients

Cakes:
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
Salsa:
  • 2 ears of fresh corn, roasted and cut from the cob
  • 1 diced peeled avocado
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation

To prepare cakes, cook shrimp (salted and peppered) in a skillet sprayed with Pam until pink,

place shrimp in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until finely chopped. Set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add bell pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic to pan; sauté for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Place bell pepper mixture in a large bowl. Add shrimp, green onions, and the next 6 ingredients (through egg), stirring well.

Stir in cilantro and 1/4 cup panko.

Divide shrimp mixture into 5 equal portions, shaping each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Pat panko bread crumbs on each side of the cakes while holding in your hand. The mixture is too loose to dredge. Chill at least one hour (I chilled them overnight).

Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 3 cakes to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Be careful will flipping the cakes. They crumble easily. Press down on the cakes with the back of the spatula a couple of times before flipping.

Remove from pan; cover and keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining cakes.

To prepare salsa, combine corn and remaining ingredients, except for the avocado; stir gently.

Add the avocado and toss very gently.

Serve immediately with shrimp cakes.

13 comments:

ErinsFoodFiles said...

Sounds intriguing, and looks tasty!

rlberry said...

The DC area has fabulous crab if you're willing to move to fresh blue crab - a local (Maryland)specialty! Hope you find some you like. In the meantime, these look good, too.

Krista said...

Seriously delicious! I'd love to try these!

Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

These look tasty! I always have difficulty finding good crab meat (since I live nowhere near the water where the crabs are actually found). I think I will give this a try!

Anonymous said...

OH YUM! Not only does that look soo delicious, but that picture is just so PRETTY! I love it!

Angelica said...

Oh, there look absolutely yummie! I want to make them right this minute, but seeing how I just got out of bed I have to go through both breakfast and lunch before I dare even to think of these again.
Will make them tomorrow most likely, as dinner for tonight is already planned!

EJacks said...

These look great! Very interesting.

Woody said...

I thought it was good.

Jo said...

I have to totally agree with you.. I too get disappointed with shop bought crab meat but always persist and go back for another try only to be disappointed again.

These are a brilliant way of making "crabless" cakes yet maintaining the idea.... I LOVE IT and will definitely be given them a go.

Thanks for sharing.

Kerstin said...

I love crab cakes too, but have never attempted to make them at home - I love the idea of using shrimp instead, which we always have around! They look fantastic!

Josie said...

That looks absolutely delicious!

Spryte said...

YUM! Those sound delicious!

Unknown said...

I'd really appreciate some feedback.
I made these last night and they were great...but there seems to be some ? on cooked or raw shrimp. When I see peeled & deveined shrimp I assume raw...but as good as it was, I wasn't positive they were 100% cooked since we did meal size not small appetizer size. Obviously you decided to cook them. Thoughts?