Momma, can we have crabcakes for dinner?

If you're a Momma and if you live in South Carolina, I guarantee you've heard this question more than once. You see, South Carolinians or Sandlappers as the locals call themselves, have this profound love for anything seafood and crabcakes rank in the top one or two favorite foods. So what makes crabcakes so good? It depends on who the cook is for one thing and it depends on the recipe for another. Some crabcakes are tart and bitter while others taste a little sweet. Either way, the crabmeat is what's important and that's where Soby's Restaurant comes in.

Now, by most Sandlapper measures, Sobys hasn't been around that long. I mean, a little over twenty years is certainly a long time in the restaurant world, but not when you're talking about legendary restaurants. So we will need to find another measure! For example, the reason Sobys is well-known for their crabcakes is that they've made almost a half million of them. The reason they've made so many is that people love them and keep coming back for them and that means they're scrumptious.

You can only imagine my surprise when the executive chef of Soby's New South Cuisine decided to share the recipe that has made them famous amongst both North and South Carolinians. He even went so far as to allow another foodie to write about it in a news publication. They are described as hailing from the Old Bay-flecked crabcake style which can normally only be found in the back of a grandmaw's recipe book scribbled on an index card. So, without further adieu, I'm sharing the same recipe here and I'll include my own grandmaw's variation just because I can.

The following recipe is aptly named Soby's Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce and it serves 6. I should mention this is best served with a cold glass of white wine or sweetened iced tea, your choice. I will also mention that all photographs are compliments of Sobys and if you are just too lazy, too worried or maybe, happen to be in the neighborhood, you can always stop by the restaurant, sit and dine on a recipe of crabcakes that haven't changed in almost a quarter of a century. You can learn more about Sobys and even make a reservation online. And I highly recommend that if you do stop by, reserve table 301. You won't regret the view.

So, let's get started with making these crabcakes. But before we do, let's get two things straight right from the get-go. First, your crabcakes will only taste as good as the quality of lump crabmeat you begin with. Second, your oven must be capable of getting very hot and maintaining that constant temperature for a minimum of 15-20 minutes. In other words, don't believe that you'll get the same quality or taste if you use a microwave oven or air fryer. Back to lump crabmeat. Living in the United States, your source of lump crabmeat is as varied as what you make yourself straight from the ocean to the benign freeze-dried variety that I sometimes feed my cats. Seriously though, given my druthers, I always use Crown Prince White Lump Crabmeat. If I can't source that, I'll settle for Chicken of the Sea Lump Crabmeat or Bumble Bee Crab Meat (Fancy White in water). All have zero trans fats, zero carbs, and good healthy dosing of iron, calcium, and protein. If you use the Crown Prince brand, you don't have to worry about bleaching or added preservatives and I've made it easy for you to source by clicking the links above.

Recipe

We will be making crabcakes with a rémoulade sauce that will feed six. It is highly recommended to serve these along with southern mashed potatoes, corn melody, or string beans and accompany them with a bottle of white wine or sweetened ice tea.

Ingredients

There are two separate ingredient lists you'll refer to. The first is for the crabcakes and the second is for the rémoulade sauce.

Crabcakes:

2 pounds Lump Crabmeat

1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped

½ tsp Fresh Thyme Leaves, chopped

Pinch Ground White Pepper

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Pinch Ground Mustard Seed

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

½ cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, available in most supermarkets)

¾ cup Mayonnaise

1 Egg, whole

2 Egg Whites

Olive Oil

Rémoulade sauce:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Shallot, minced

2 Tbsp Capers, drained, chopped

6 Anchovy Fillets, chopped

1 Lemon, juiced

½ cup White Wine

¼ cup Italian Parsley, minced

1⁄3 cup Creole Mustard or mustard of choice

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups Mayonnaise

Directions

For the Crab Cakes:

1. Gently pick through the crab and remove any shells. This is an important step because there is nothing worse than biting into a crabcake and crunching on crab shell. Don't worry! Shouldn't be much if any at all.

2. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined, taking care not to break up the crab any more than necessary. Hard to explain, but easy to understand once you are mixing the ingredients. You'll see what I mean.

3. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet. The olive oil should be enough to liberally coat the large skillet but not form puddles.

4. Scoop about ⅓-cup of the mix into the hot pan for each crab cake. Do not overcrowd the pan. You must leave room to flatten the cakes and be able to flip them.

5. Flatten with a spatula to approximately ¾-inch thick.

6. Cook the cakes until they are brown on one side. Gently flip and cook on the other side until the cakes are heated through. Don't be afraid to turn up the heat. You'll want the exterior to be medium to dark brown.

For the Rémoulade:

1. Cook the shallots, capers, and anchovy fillets in the olive oil on medium heat for one-to-two minutes. Do not let the shallots brown.

2. Add the lemon juice and white wine. Simmer until almost all the liquid is gone.

3. Cool the shallot mixture.

4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and whisk in the parsley, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise.

5. Keep the rémoulade covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serving

I would suggest serving one or two crabcakes per serving, adding some rémoulade sauce to tame the crab taste, and serve with a side of corn melody and/or string beans. Some folks prefer to also serve mashed creme potatoes. Add a glass of chilled white wine, or sweetened iced tea and you have a main course for dinner. The best part and it's difficult to explain is that almost everyone who tries these crabcakes whether it's their first time or their 100th time swear they remind them of something they've had as a child. In other words, there's a certain nostalgic feeling associated with crabcakes.

Lastly, enjoy! Oh and copy the recipe down and put it in your recipe book. I'm sure once you've tried it once, you'll want to try it again and again and again. Oh... oh, I also promised you a variety of the main recipe. So here it is. Following the tradition of Mary Poppins, if you have finicky eaters, add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the crabmeat mixture. I guarantee you this one step will make the crabcakes much more palatable to a broader category of eaters. Now, go enjoy!