The Crab Cake Sandwich That's Layered With Tangy Flavor

Crab cakes are a popular menu staple, especially along the Eastern U.S. coast. When made with lump crabmeat and minimal other ingredients, the crab flavor and texture is hard to resist. Mayonnaise-based sauces are often paired with seafood, and remoulade is no exception. Remoulade is a classic French sauce, and the Louisianans jazzed it up and made their own version influenced by Creole and Cajun cuisine. Don't expect it to taste the exact same way twice, as every family has their own secret method for making it (but do expect it to taste good every time). This cold, creamy sauce packs a real punch from the addition of a long list of flavorful ingredients such as capers, pickles, hot sauce, and paprika. In the South, remoulade is served with sandwiches such as po' boys, fried green tomatoes, fried shrimp, and French fries, and it's also widely served with crab cakes.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for crab cakes with tangy remoulade in sandwich form. The crab cakes are Maryland-style, flavored with Old Bay, Dijon, Worchestershire sauce, scallion, and parsley. This fusion works, as the crab cakes pair well with the Louisiana-style remoulade, as the sauce contains some of the same ingredients. Use lump crab meat if you can, and see our FAQ below for other crabmeat suggestions. 

For the remoulade, you will need mayonnaise, capers, pickles, parsley, scallion, Dijon mustard, Tabasco sauce, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, ground sweet paprika, salt, and black pepper. The crab cakes call for mayonnaise, a lightly beaten egg, parsley, scallion, Old Bay seasoning, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, crab meat, and breadcrumbs. Grab some canola oil as well for greasing the baking sheet before broiling the crab cakes. Finally, you'll need buns, lettuce leaves, and tomato slices to make the sandwiches.

Place all of the remoulade ingredients in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Stir together all of the crab cake ingredients except for the crab meat, breadcrumbs, and oil in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

Gently fold in the crabmeat and breadcrumbs until evenly coated. Be careful not to break up any lumps.

Form the mixture into six patties.

Grease a baking sheet with oil.

Move an oven rack to a position 6 to 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler on high.

Place the crab cakes on the baking sheet and broil for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until browned and heated through. Watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Remove the crab cakes from the oven and place them on buns with lettuce and a tomato slice underneath.

Top with remoulade sauce and serve immediately.

We recommend using lump crab meat for crab cakes. In fact, crab cakes are one of the most popular ways to use lump crab meat. This kind has a sweet flavor, and it's made up of larger, chunkier pieces that come from the crab's body as well as broken pieces of jumbo lump crab meat. Lump crabmeat is more expensive than some other kinds, but the large, sweeter pieces allow the crab flavor and texture to be noticeable.

Don't make the mistake of using more expensive crab meat in crab cakes, even if it is in your budget. Jumbo lump crab meat is the name for the two large muscles connected to a crab's swimming legs. Colossal lump crab meat is the two nearby muscles that are even larger. There are only two per crab, and they're considered a delicacy to be enjoyed on their own.

If lump crab meat is out of budget, you could use special crab meat, which is high quality white crab meat from the body of the crab with medium sized chunky and stringy pieces. Claw crabmeat is also an option, but keep in mind that it will have a much stronger flavor. The most economical option is canned white crab meat, but use this with caution. This kind is made up of very small, chopped pieces canned in water and must be drained well to prevent mushy crab cakes, and the texture of the crab cakes will be much more uniform.

French remoulade is a classic cold, mayonnaise-based sauce often used to dress seafood or meat. It contains ingredients such as egg yolks, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, capers, gherkins, fresh herbs, and sometimes anchovies. The color is whitish with green speckles. It resembles what Americans would call tartar sauce, although tartar sauce is made from dill or sweet pickles (there is a difference between gherkins and pickles).

Creole, Cajun, and French cuisines all influence the cuisine of Louisiana. Louisiana-style remoulade is a little different from the French sauce because it has a reddish color and more ingredients, but the base is similar. There's not just one recipe for remoulade in Louisiana, as many people put their own touches on it. In general, it's a mayonnaise based sauce with many flavorful add-ins that could include capers, pickles, scallion, garlic, horseradish, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, fresh herbs, and something like hot sauce or cayenne pepper for heat. The reddish color comes from those hot ingredients as well as ground paprika, although some versions add ketchup. Some recipes call for Cajun or Creole seasoning instead of adding spices or herbs individually.

Louisiana-style remoulade is considered one of the best sauces for crab cakes because it's zingy, tangy, and packed with flavor. The French base coupled with the influence of indigenous, African, and Caribbean cuisines created a winner that's become an inextricable part of the region.