Click on this picture. Click and drool.
The coconut in this recipe accentuates the crab's natural sweetness, while the potato provides a creamy texture without diluting the crab flavor. The polenta and coconut make the crunchiest, most flavorable crust you can get, without having to use vast amounts of oil. Not enough for you? Try it with this salsa. Juicy, sweet, tangy, and intense.
If you're like me, you have trouble keeping seafood cakes together. No problem with this cake. It held its shape and flipped without a problem. Definitely a first for me!
Perfection. Okay, enough talking.
Coconut Crab Cakes
Adapted from Food Stories
INGREDIENTS
- 500g crab meat
- 3 green onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium Yukon potatoes
- 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 1/2 tablespoon jalapeno, chopped
- 3 tablespoons light coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Polenta and dried, unsweetened coconut, for crusting
- 1/4 cup egg substitute, for dipping
- Olive oil, for (very) shallow frying
DIRECTIONS
- Boil the potatoes. Drain and mash.
- Add the crab meat to a large bowl along with all of the other ingredients except the polenta and dried coconut. Season.
- Shape the mixture into cakes and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Spread some of the polenta on a plate and add enough coconut so that you have a mix of two thirds polenta to one third coconut.
- Dip each cake in the egg first and then coat thoroughly in the polenta mix.
- Cook the crab cakes in olive oil until both sides are golden brown and crispy.
- Serve with mango salsa.
Tropical Mango Salsa
Adapted from Simply Recipes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced (about 1 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
- 3 rings canned pineapple, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
I had fun with the plating...
Oh, and when I was looking through the fridge, I found this.
Ew. Yes, those are chopped jalapenos. This is what happens when your family is composed of spicy-food junkies. Notice how it is half empty, too. That's a lot of heartburn right there.
6 comments:
Yay! I'm SO glad you liked the fishcakes. Nice adaptation! The polenta crust is amazing isn't it? Holds up so well and is so crispy, I never use anything else now. Nice presentation too.
Well, as a Marylander (transplanted from Texas), I love crab cakes. But I'm not sure my fellow Chesapeake neighbors would go for the coconut treatment ... LOL!
On the other hand, my wife and I are very adventurous when it comes to the Maryland Blue.
Next weekend, I will be picking up a couple of pounds of blue crab meat at the Lexington Market, and we are going to give your recipe a try.
Thanks for sharing.
These sounds great! I justm ight have to try them.
Since I have contracted diabetes (my overweight condition, and we Jewish ladies sometimes have a propensity to the disease), I am not allowed to eat much crab meat.
However, my assistant at the CassandraCrossing, "therealchiffonade" (Chiffy is a Senior Adviser at serious Eats), has advised me that I can safely use the fake crab meat from Wal-Mart.
So, I am going to try the coconut crab cakes as soon as possible.
Thanks for the great idea.
Thank you all so much for the comments! I really hope that you all try Helen's or my version of her recipe. The crab cakes are excellent even as leftovers!
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