Crab Cake with Corn Soup

Every summer, I go to this crab shack near Annapolis, Maryland to have steamed blue crab (a local specialty). Sitting at patio with family and friends, cracking the crabs with a wooden mallet, and eating the sweet crab meats with a glass of cold beer are FUN you can only have in summer.

And, of course, you get corn on the cob with the delicious steamed crabs. Crab and corn... they are perfect seasonal pair for hot summer!

Although just steamed crabs and corns are perfectly delicious, I wanted to make a bit more sophisticated crab and corn dish. And, today, I cooked lightly seared delicate crab cakes and corn soup spiced up with chipotle.

This dish can be a good appetizer for a fancy dinner, or a light lunch by itself. Please try this easy crab cake recipe at home! You can also just have the spicy corn soup as a vegetarian option.


Crab Cake with Corn Soup
(Yield: 2 servings / Cooking time: 45-50 minutes)

Ingredients:
Crab Cake
+ 100g steamed crab meat
+ 1/2 tsp lemon zest
+ 1/2 tsp lime zest
+ 1/2 tsp orange zest
+ 1 tsp chopped chives
+ 1/2 tsp chopped tarragon
+ 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
+ 1 tsp whole grain mustard
+ salt and pepper


Corn Soup
+ 2 cups water
+ about 1 cup corn kernels (from two medium ears of corn)
+ 2 scallions, white & pale green parts only
+ 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
+ 1/2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce, very finely chopped
+ a small bunch of chives
+ a lemon (to adjust the acidity of your soup)
+ salt & pepper
+ (optional) micro herbs



Procedures:
1. Scrap the corn kernels with a knife, and chop white/pale green parts of scallions.


2-1. In a pot, add butter and sweat chopped scallions until they are softened over medium heat.
2-2. Add corn kernels and sweat again until the corn is slightly cooked and you can smell the sweet smell of corn. Season VERY LIGHTLY with a little bit of salt - If you over season the corn at this stage, the soup will be reduced and will become concentrated with the salty flavor.
2-3. Add chopped chipotle chili and keep sweating to make sure every corn kernel is coated with chipotle flavor.
2-4. Pour two cups of water (twice the volume of corn kernels) and bring the water to boil over high heat. When it boils, cover the pot, turn down the heat to low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.


* While the corn soup is simmering, let's make crab cakes. IT IS SO EASY! And you can pull it off in less than 30 minutes.

3. Mix all the ingredients under "crap cake" ingredients. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. You can add little bit of lemon juice as well.


4. Make two crab cakes with a 2" round mold by pressing the crab meat mixture firmly.


5. Heat a pan, and sear each side of crab cake. To make sure that the inside of crab cake is warm as well, turn off the heat and cover the pan loosely with cooking foil.


6. When the corn soup is done, blend the corn soup with a hand blender (or stand blender), and strain through a very fine strainer. Adjust the seasoning and acidity with salt & pepper and lemon juice.


7. Stir in chopped chives to the corn soup. Then, serve the soup with crab cake. If you want, you can garnish the crab cake with micro herbs (I used micro cilantro).


Enjoy~