Thai Style Crab Cakes

Name: Thai Style Crab Cakes
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: asian, thai
Ingredients: 6 medium raw shrimp, shelled, washed and deveined; 1 teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce); 1 pound fresh lump crab meat, picked over for cartilage; 1 egg; 1/4 cup chopped scallion; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 fresh chili, preferably Thai, minced; 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger; Salt; freshly ground black pepper; 2 to 3 tablespoons bread crumbs, preferably fresh; About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging; Peanut or vegetable oil as needed; Lime wedges for serving

By Mark Bittman

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 5(530)
Notes: Read community notes

This is a formidable crab cake in a style that mimics tod mun, the Thai fish cake that, when made right, packs astonishing flavor. These cakes require shrimp purée as a binder; scallops will also work in place of the shrimp. Just stick a few in a small food processor and whiz for a few seconds, or chop and mash by hand.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

6medium raw shrimp, shelled, washed and deveined
1teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce)
1pound fresh lump crab meat, picked over for cartilage
1egg
¼cup chopped scallion
¼cup chopped cilantro
1fresh chili, preferably Thai, minced
1teaspoon minced fresh ginger
Salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3tablespoons bread crumbs, preferably fresh
About ½ cup all-purpose flour for dredging
Peanut or vegetable oil as needed
Lime wedges for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Purée shrimp in a food processor (smaller is better) until you have a smooth paste, or chop and mash by hand. Add fish sauce. In a bowl, mix the shrimp purée, crab meat, egg, scallion, cilantro, chili, ginger and salt and pepper; add just enough bread crumbs to stiffen mixture a bit. Refrigerate mixture until you are ready to cook; it will be easier to shape into cakes if you refrigerate it for 30 minutes or more.
Step 2
Season flour with salt and pepper. Film bottom of a large skillet with oil and place over medium-high heat. Shape crab meat mixture into cakes 1 inch thick and as wide as you want. Dredge each in flour, and cook, adjusting heat as necessary and turning once (very gently), until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes a side. Serve with lime wedges.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

530 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Ryan Quiroz6 years ago

I made these for a neighborhood potluck and got people laid. I really fluffed my raw shrimp paste with my knife and folded into my whisked eggs, this make the most beautiful batter with least crumbs, I used a large cast iron skillet and was able to omit the flour, lightening the gluten. And making a to die for cake. 3/4" by1 1/2" cooked and held in a 325F oven until Showtime. Citrus really brighten these

Wendy6 years ago

Delicious with a Thai dipping sauce made with lime juice or rice vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some finely chopped garlic

Roni Jordan6 years ago

Amped up the ginger and added some minced red bell pepper. The 3 tbsp panko and chilling in fridge really helped these hold together. Dredged in panko instead of flour. Excellent, with a side sauce of leftover homemade tartar sauce that I spiked with ground chipotle and cilantro. Served with Vietnamese cabbage salad. Made 7 cakes, using straight-sided 1/3 measuring cup slightly overfilled.

BarryinSF6 years ago

I liked these very much. I followed the advice of someone else and rolled them in panko instead of flour. I also turned up the heat and used 3 Thai chilies. This is a Thai recipe, after all, right? Finally, I made a sandwich with it by taking coleslaw, a sliced tomato, and putting it all in a sourdough roll and topping it with sriracha mayo. Was fantastic.

SFCook6 years ago

I have made this 3x in the past 10 days for various guests and everyone has loved it! We cut the Serrano chili down to 1/2 since we don't like too spicy. The 3 Tbs. of bread crumbs plus refrigerating for at least an hour kept the ingredients altogether for frying. I used a Vietnamese dipping sauce (lime juice w/pulp, a good fish sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic.) Served with the Cucumber Watermelon salad on this site as a nice contrast.

Geoff G6 years ago

These were great! Smashed the shrimp instead of food processor. Served with Thai chili sauce and the Thai cucumber and mint salsa. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11907-thai-cucumber-and-mint-salsa?a...

DRC PGH6 years ago

Made these tonight and they were terrific. I lacked a fresh chili but added 1/2 tspn of Thai green curry paste. I also griddled brioche buns (because ya know crab cakes HAVE TO be a sandwich). Finally I made a sauce of mayo, ketchup and a tspn of Thai red curry paste. I dipped a little romaine in the nuac cham that others have favored for this. Delicious and I will certainly make again.

Chris5 years ago

Also it's smeared the fish cakes with a film of mayo before covering them in flour which promoted Browning.

Mike4 years ago

I made these with modifications: 1) increased the ginger, added finely minced galangal, sauteed the whites of scallions, galangal and ginger in minimal oil, substituted basil for cilantro, used panko and broiled them and served with sweet chili sauce version (2) added a small amount of thai curry paste to the pulsed shrimp (paste) and substituted basil for the cilantro, made several small crab balls, fried them and served them in romaine leaves with a peanut sauce

Andrew H4 years ago

I love this recipe but think it is a bit on the tame side. I have experimented with increasing some of the ingredients and like the results. I use a microplane for the ginger and increase 1 T. Seed the Thai chilis and increase to about 2 t to 4 t depending on your love of heat. Use a 1/2c measuring cup to form your patties and add a little panko crumbs after the flour dredge to add crunch. I also make a sauce of juice of 1/2 large lemon, 1/2c mayo and 1T sriracha sauce or to your taste

skyandstars1 day ago

I add 1 Tbsp of lime juice and zest of 1/2 lime to the mix. I find that I need 1/4 cup of dry bread crumbs ( grocery store in a can.) Increase Nam Pla to 1 1/2 tsp. To mix, in the minichopper, pulse the shrimp. Then add the egg, fish sauce and lime juice, puree. I mix the dry ingredients, including the crab in a bowl, adding the bread crumbs last. Use a light hand so as to keep the crab as intact as possible. Fold in the liquid ingredients. Chill

susan4 weeks ago

I love both crab cakes and Thai flavors, but this didn’t work. The cakes were waaay too wet, even after adding a lot more panko on top of fresh breadcrumbs. And the flavors overwhelmed the delicate taste of crab. Not awful, but won’t make again- especially considering how expensive crab meat is.

Kristina Y.7 months ago

My new favorite crab cake! I will not be going back to any other recipes anymore. I used scallops instead of shrimp and really appreciated minimizing the use of bread crumbs as a binder. It made the crab cakes much more substantial as the main item on the dish. I served it with a nuoc cham recipe for dipping. I also coated the cakes with some mayo and then dredged in panko before frying. It came out with a nice exterior crunch.

Manette8 months ago

These were good! I only had a jalepeno so thats the chili I used, seeds and all. The "Thai Style" was a nice twist from the basic crab cake.

Al Eugene1 year ago

Made it. Very tasty and fun as a meal, especially alongside a grilled cabbage slaw. Suggestion: With the amount of binder in the mix, it's equally easy to form the patties before you refrigerate them. And, in that way, you don't have raw shrimp on you at the last minute, especially when want to serve them hot. You've already done the hand clean-up by then.

Mary1 year ago

Would commercial Thai shrimp paste work here? Any guesses as to quantity?

Miguel1 year ago

I'm a fan of crab cakes, but by far these crab cakes are the best! Shrimp brings the flavor to a new and incredible level! It just needs dipping sauce!

Frank2 years ago

Can this be made with faux crab?

Mary Lou2 years ago

I have shrimp paste in my larder. Will that work as a binder? If so, how much shrimp paste will equal 6 pureéd shrimp?

laurie wood2 years ago

Charlie Henss2 years ago

Delicious served on a bed of Thai basil, with Newman’s Own mango salsa and cole slaw on the side .

shoebender2 years ago

Had to do the substitution dance - notably shopper misread list and came home with cooked shrimp. Made a paste of it anyway and it held together - used panko and it was delicious

Mary Lou2 years ago

Would commercial shrimp paste work here?

Jean2 years ago

Didn't care for these. The texture with the egg and shrimp paste was odd and off putting. They also dulled the crab flavor. Way too salty and I only put a pinch of salt along with the nam pla. Prefer panko to potato flour for dredging. Prefer Jaques Pepin recipe.

LAA3 years ago

Added some lemongrass, lime leaves, and garlic scapes. Reminded me of Thailand for sure! Only problem was that we should have doubled the recipe. Such a hit!

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