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Crab cakes with Cajun-style dipping sauce

Cajun Style Crab Cakes with Remoulade

Pan-seared crab cakes with a crisp golden crust, served with a Cajun-style remoulade built from the ground up — spice, acid, umami, and herb designed into the mayonnaise from the very first ingredient.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chill time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Cajun remoulade
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup neutral oil
  • 2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish plain, not creamy
  • 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp parsley chopped
  • 1 tbsp green onion chopped
For the crab cakes:
  • 16 oz Lump crab meat pick through for shells
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • Neutral Oil for pan-frying
  • Lemon wedges for serving

Method
 

Cajun Style Remoulade
  1. Combine the egg yolk, spicy brown mustard, and apple cider vinegar in a tall, narrow container.
  2. Add the Cajun seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce.
  3. Add the oil slowly and emulsify with an immersion blender until thick and glossy.
  4. Fold in the parsley and green onion. Taste before adding salt — the seasoning blend and Worcestershire may already provide enough.
Crab Cakes
  1. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, egg, Old Bay, Worcestershire, parsley, salt, and pepper — this is your binder and flavor base, mixed before the crab gets involved.
  2. Gently fold in the breadcrumbs, then the crab meat last, folding rather than stirring so you keep large pieces of crab intact.
  3. Form into cakes, handling gently.
  4. Chill the formed cakes at least 30 minutes, ideally 45-60 minutes — this rest helps them hold together in the pan.
  5. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet.
  6. Add the chilled crab cakes and resist the urge to move them — let the first side develop a good golden crust before flipping.
  7. Flip carefully and brown the second side, keeping the crab tender inside.
  8. Serve hot with the Cajun remoulade and a squeeze of lemon.

Notes

Why this remoulade is built differently: Rather than making a standard mayonnaise and folding in flavor afterward, every ingredient here — even the mustard and the acid — is chosen and built in from the start, designed specifically for what these crab cakes need.
Why the binder is mixed before the crab: Building the seasoned binder first, then folding in the crab last, keeps you from overworking the delicate crab meat while still distributing flavor evenly throughout.
Why the chill time matters: This isn't optional if you want the cakes to hold their shape — the rest firms up the binder enough that the cakes won't fall apart when they hit the hot pan.
Crab meat: Fresh or refrigerated lump crab meat gives the best texture and keeps large pieces intact. Canned crab tends to be more shredded and will make denser cakes.