Ingredients
- butter 25g
- onion 1 small, finely diced
- plain flour 40g
- whole milk 350ml
- tomato purée ½ tsp
- English mustard 1 tsp
- nutmeg a good grating
- brown crab meat 200g
- white crab meat 100g
- eggs 2, beaten
- very fine breadcrumbs 200g
Method
-
Step 1
Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion until golden brown.
-
Step 2
Stir in the flour and cook for a few seconds before gradually whisking in the milk. Whisk until the sauce is glossy and thick. Cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
-
Step 3
Beat in the tomato purée, mustard, nutmeg, salt and plenty of pepper. Cool a little then stir in the brown crab meat then the white and adjust seasoning. Spoon the mixture into a bowl and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Cool, then chill for 3-4 hours until thickened.
-
Step 4
When ready to cook, remove the cling film and make about 15 quenelles using two dessert spoons to form the mixture into small ovals. Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl. scatter half the breadcrumbs into a bowl.
-
Step 5
Dip each crab quenelle into the egg and then coat evenly in breadcrumbs. They are delicate so handle gently. Put on a baking tray. After 10 croquettes have been prepared, tip out the used breadcrumbs – these will have become sticky and lumpy – and replace them with the remaining breadcrumbs (at this point you can chill the croquettes until just before it is time to serve).
-
Step 6
Fill a large pan no more than one third with sunflower oil and heat to 180c or until a cube of bread browns in 2 minutes. Using a metal slotted spoon, carefully lower five crab cakes at a time into the hot oil and cook for about 2½ minutes until the coating is golden brown and the filling melted into a soft, unctuous sauce. Keep warm while the remainder are cooked. Serve hot with salad and wedges of lemon for squeezing. Good with a glass of chilled manzanilla.
Nutritional Information
- Kcals 125
- Carbs 13.9g
- Protein 7.6g
- Fat 4.7g
- Salt 0.55g
- Fibre 0.4g