Off the shelf: Piercing the murky depths of crab cakes

There's crab, as in Eastern blue. Then there's crab, as in Dungeness. And in between there are a whole lot of people who love crab cakes, wherever the crab comes from.

And to their delight, Tom Douglas, who grew up in Delaware and later moved to Seattle, has written a book that sinks its claws into the popular decapod and comes up with more than four dozen variations on ways to eat it.

And what would one call such a cookbook? "I Love Crab Cakes" (William Morrow, $19.95, 160 pages).

Douglas, chef and owner of four Seattle restaurants, takes a thorough tour through ingredients and techniques, never casting aspersions on the various kinds except to say King crab has a different texture.

And while texture may not be of high concern for some of the recipes that use plenty of filler and binders, don't even think of using it for Thierry's Dungeness crab cakes.

Imagine sinking your teeth into a bite of pure crab -- no egg, no mayo, no chunks of bread, artisan or otherwise. Can such a morsel exist? Believe. Thanks to a technique that involves squishing the minced crab and spices into ring molds, then breading just the exposed ends before sautéing the cakes in oil, these lightly crunchy pucks look inviting and taste even better. You don't even need the clam aioli that creator Thierry Rautureau, a French chef who works in Seattle, suggests -- but if you'd like to try it, it's on Page 138 of the book.

If you don't have ring molds, don't worry; use tomato sauce cans opened on both ends -- or do as I did and use open cookie cutters (stay away from fancy shapes, however).

Other things to try, if the mouth-watering pictures by Robin Layton are any indication, are the cute crab Louis cheesecakes, tiny cupcakes topped with a claw lump; tidewater crab cakes with Smithfield ham; beer-batter crab fritters; tempura crab cakes; and Vietnamese crab shrimp toasts. (OK, Douglas stretches the definition for some of these, but given the chefs' reputations, he'll probably be forgiven.)

And even though you may not need any extra condiments for many of these, it's comforting to know that a chapter on salsas and sauces is there -- and it has a "really good tartar sauce."

Coast to coast, that may be even harder to find than the perfect crab cake.

---

Thierry's Dungeness crab cakes

Prep time: 35 minutes | Cook time: 2 minutes | Serves 4

Thierry Rautureau, a chef transplanted from the west coast of France, owns one of Seattle's most admired restaurants, Rover's. His recipe here is adapted from "I Love Crab Cakes" (William Morrow, $19.95, 160 pages).

Notes: You will need 4 ring molds, 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and at least 1 1/2 inches deep. For more color, replace the shallots with minced red bell pepper. Rautureau recommends serving the cakes with a clam aioli.

Ingredients

3/4 pound Dungeness crabmeat, drained, picked clean of shell and lightly squeezed if wet
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives

Instructions

To make cakes, put crabmeat on a cutting board and chop into small pieces. No piece of crab should be larger than the size of a pea. (It's important to chop the crab so you get a tight pack in the mold without air spaces.) Transfer crabmeat to a bowl and add garlic, shallots, chives, basil and a little pepper to taste.

Set 4 ring molds on a work surface. Divide the crab mixture among the molds, packing the crab as tightly as you can into each mold with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Put the bread crumbs on a plate. Leaving the crabmeat in the mold, use a spoon to spread a generous, even layer of egg wash on top of the crabmeat.

Turn the mold upside down (egg-washed side down) onto the plate of bread crumbs. If the crabmeat is not even with the edge of the mold on both sides, push down on the crabmeat with your fingers so the egg-washed side makes contact with the bread crumbs. Generously spoon the egg wash over the unbreaded side of the mold and turn the mold upside down again to bread the other side, pushing down on the crabmeat if needed to make contact with the crumbs.

Both the top and bottom sides of the crabmeat in the mold should be evenly covered with a layer of egg wash and crumbs. Set the mold aside and repeat with the remaining molds.

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When the skillet is hot, pick up a mold and place it in the pan, then use your fingers to carefully push the crab cake out of the mold, removing the mold from the pan. Repeat with the remaining molds. Cook the crab cakes until browned on the first side, about 1 minute, then carefully turn them over, using a spatula, and brown the second side, about a minute more. Set out 4 plates and set a crab cake on each plate.

Per serving: 230 cal.; 21 g pro.; 11 g carb.; 11 g fat (2 sat., 7 monounsat., 2 polyunsat.); 166 mg chol.; 431 mg sod.; 0 fiber; 0 sugar; 43 percent calories from fat.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Lori Korleski Richardson can be reached at (916) 321-1114 or lkorleski@sacbee.com.