Take a page out of Maryland’s tradition, and you’ll find crab cakes among that list. Clearly, crab cakes are as much a part of Maryland as Mom, and apple pie is American. Without a doubt, most Maryland restaurants pride themselves on having the best crab cakes, in other words, their restaurant has a lot riding on their crab cakes. However, how does a home cook compete with such claims?
In other words, if you live in Maryland and you frequent the numerous restaurants you pretty much know a good crab cake when you taste one. Finally, there is nothing like the taste of a fresh delicious crab cake.
Ingredients Needed to Make Crab Cakes
Maryland blue crab meat has a light sweet flavor, with a perfect bold taste that you are not soon to forget. More importantly, it only takes a few ingredients to elevate the flavor of blue crab meat. For this reason incorporating Old Bay Seasoning, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, a few Ritz crackers, and lemon juice along with a pound of lump blue crab meat, and you will be singing the praises of Maryland crab cakes for days!
Believe me, you want that lump blue crab meat to always be the star of the show. Yet, purchasing lump crab meat is like investing in the most expensive steak at an upscale restaurant. Obviously, if you’re making crab cakes at home you definitely want the crab meat to shine, because it’s not cheap!
What are the Grades of Crab Meat?
There are four distinct grades of crab meat.
- Jumbo lump crab meat– meat comes from two large muscles, known for its bright white color and excellent taste. Ideally used to make rich pastas, Crab Imperial, or solid meat crab cakes.
- Lump crab meat-consist of large and slightly smaller pieces of jumbo lump with a blend of back-in meat.
- Backfin – becomes indistinguishable, it’s picked from the body of the crab. As a result, this part of the crab meat is less expensive.
- Claw crab meat– is the “dark meat”, it comes from the claws and the legs of the crab. It’s less expensive than the other crab meats. In addition, the meat has a stronger flavor and is used mostly for chowders and dips.
Fill a fried tortilla with several warm air-fried crab cakes topped with pico de gallo and a squeeze of lime, then you know you hit the mark for a Crab Stuffed Tacos. Homemade and delicious, just as good as any restaurant could make. Now if you are interested in trying another delicious crab dish, try my Crab Imperial Stuffed Potatoes, you will simply love it! And if you love chowder go ahead and try the Bountiful Crab Chowder then let me know what you think, okay?
How to Make Crab Balls
It never occurred to me to make crab cakes at home. However, COVID-19 prevented me from dining out. Besides, why would I when there are so many wonderful restaurants here in my area? Well, it can be done, and it’s pretty easy. When making crab cakes less is more. Without a doubt, you want the crab meat to standout.
- First, in a medium bowl, add mayonnaise, egg, mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice chopped parsley, melted butter, salt, and pepper.
- Next, whisk the ingredients together in the mixing bowl.
- In addition, add the Ritz cracker, crumbled, and lightly blend into the mixture. Before you add the crab, check for any shell pieces, remove them. Next, add the crab meat and gently fold it into the mixture. Moreover, leave as much of the crab in tack as possible. Next, refrigerate for 30 minutes to help the crab mixture to hold together.
- First, form the crab mixture into 12 medium size cakes or balls. Next, preheat the air fryer at 360 degrees for 8 minutes. Then, lightly spray the bottom of the fryer to prevent sticking. Place 6 of the 12 crab balls evenly spaced in an air fryer. Cook the crab balls for 10 minutes however, stop the fryer after 5 minutes to turn each of the crab balls. Resume cooking for the last 5 minutes of the cooking duration.
These Crab Stuffed Tacos are perfectly served in deep-fried tortillas with a squeeze of lemon, topped with pico de gallo, and garnished with a wonderful Old Bay Seasoning sauce. Share these tacos with your family and friends for that special sporting event or switch it up on Taco Tuesday to these delightful crab-stuffed tacos. Serve them with fries and a salad and you are in business. Matter of fact, who needs a salad when these tacos are topped with pico de gallo?
Subscribe to The Crafty Boomer and never miss another post!
- 1 pound lump crab-meat
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbs. parsley, minced
- 2 tbsp. yellow mustard or Dijon
- 1tbsp. butter, melted
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ cup Ritz crackers, crumbled or crackers (crumbled)
- 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tbsp. mustard
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. ketchup
- 1 tsp. horseradish (optional)
- 2 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp. hot sauce
- 4 flour or corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning to season the shells
- Vegetable oil for frying tortilla shells
- First, in a medium bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, mustard, melted butter, lemon juice, and Old Bay Seasoning. Next, add the crumbled Ritz cracker to the bowl and stir.
- Next, pick through the crab-meat and remove any shell pieces. Add the crab-meat to the mixture now, gently fold the mixture together just until combined. For this reason, this keeps the crab in lump form.
- Now, cover and refrigerate the crab mixture for 30 minutes to help keep the crab shape.
- Next, form the crab mixture into 12 medium size cakes or balls. Then preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees for 8 minutes. Now, lightly spray the bottom of the fryer to prevent sticking. Place 6 of the 12 crab balls evenly spaced in an air fryer. Cook the crab balls for 10 minutes however, stop the fryer after 5 minutes to turn each of the crab balls. Finally, resume cooking for the last 5 minutes.
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and blend thoroughly. Refrigerate until needed. (This can be made ahead of time)
- However, shape tortillas into a taco shell, by cooking them in a deep-fryer until golden brown. Once removed from the fryer sprinkle the crisp taco with Old Bay Seasoning.
- Start by adding three crab balls into each crisp taco, top with pico de gallo, and Old Bay Sauce, and enjoy!
- To begin with, pico de gallo is simply chopped tomato, onion, and Serrano peppers, with salt, lime juice, and cilantro. However, you decide how much you would need.
