One of the most enduring culinary dishes to come out of Maryland is the Maryland-style Crab Cake. Utilizing the fresh crab from the nearby bay, the Maryland-style Crab Cake has become a staple of seafood restaurants across the country. Crab Cakes are often a staple of wedding receptions; just ask the premier wedding planners in Philadelphia at Catering by Mario’s! In this episode of “Cooking with Mario,” Chef Mario shares his interpretation of this American culinary classic. 

The Chef Mario Twist

For Chef Mario’s twist on the classic Maryland-style Crab Cake, it all comes down to the filling. Chef Mario provides a recipe that gives the crabcake more color, finds the right breadcrumb balance, and packs plenty of flavor into a single bite. 

With most homemade crab cakes, finding the perfect balance between flavors and textures can prove challenging for the home cook. To begin, you need to assemble the ingredients and form the plan of attack. While other recipes will have you add the crabmeat to the mixture earlier, Chef Mario does things a little differently. In his recipe, the crab meat doesn’t get added to the mix until later in the assembling process.  

The Ingredients for Chef Mario’s Maryland-style Crab Cakes include;

• Crab meat.
• Celery.
• Onion.
• Bell peppers.
• Garlic and Thyme.
• Worcester sauce.  
• One egg per pound of crab meat.
• Panko bread crumbs.
• ½ cup of mayonnaise per pound.
• Seafood seasoning. 
• And salt and pepper for taste! 

Before adding the crabmeat to the mix, Chef Mario’s crab cake recipe utilizes fresh celery, onions, and freshly cleaned bell peppers to add a hit of freshness to the crabcake filling mixture. The pop of freshness provided by the celery and bell peppers gives Chef Mario’s version that little extra to stand apart from the crowd. After adding some thyme to the mix, pulse it with your food processor to get it to your desired consistency. 

As you begin to add the binding agents like the mayonnaise and the eggs, you want to be mindful of the ratio of binding agents to the crab meat. One egg for every pound of crab meat is recommended. If the mixture feels like it’s becoming too watery, add more breadcrumbs to the mix, as it will help soak up that residual moisture and give your crabcake that perfect consistency it needs to hold up to the heat from the pan. 

Do you have a corporate event that needs planning in the Philadelphia area? Contact Catering by Mario’s today for more information and subscribe to the Cooking with Mario YouTube channel for more culinary inspiration!