THAI STYLE CRAB CAKES RECIPES

In a large bowl, mix crabmeat, egg, coriander, lime zest, chilli, 100g (3/12oz) breadcrumbs and plenty of seasoning. Form into 18 flat patties. Put remaining breadcrumbs in a bowl and toss patties in crumbs to coat, pressing lightly to help them stick.  2 In a small bowl, mix sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan over high heat and fry the crab cakes (do this in batches if needed) for 5min, turning midway through, until golden. 

1. To make the gastrique, heat a medium-heavy saucepan over medium heat for two minutes. Add the sugar and cook without stirring, tilting the pan as needed so that the sugar cooks evenly, for about five minutes, or until it melts into an amber caramel. Do not stir or the caramel will crystallise. Remove from the heat and stir in the mango (the caramel will seize), then the rice vinegar and lime juice. Return to medium heat and stir constantly for about five minutes, or until the mango is translucent and the caramel is dissolved and syrupy. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Season with salt.

2. To prepare the crab cakes, in a large bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, egg, fish sauce, ginger, coriander, sesame oil, chilli, salt and lime zest together, then whisk in the spring onions. Add the crabmeat and stir to coat, coarsely breaking apart the crabmeat, leaving small whole chunks in the mixture. Fold in the crumbs. Cover and refrigerate the crab mixture for 30 minutes so that the mixture is easier to form.

3. Using about a third of a cup of the crab mixture for each cake, shape into 12 x 2cm-thick crab cakes and place on a baking tray.

4. To cook the crab cakes, preheat the oven to 95C or 75C fan-forced. Line a baking tray with paper towels. Heat a large non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat. Add three tablespoons of the canola oil and two tablespoons of the butter and heat until hot but not smoking. Working in two batches, fry six crab cakes for about two minutes on each side, or until crisp and golden, adjusting the heat as needed to brown evenly without scorching. Transfer to the baking tray and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan with paper towels and repeat with the remaining canola oil, butter, and six crab cakes.

5. To serve, place two crab cakes on each plate. Spoon some of the mango gastrique over and alongside the crab cakes. Top each with the cucumber and garnish with the coriander sprigs and sea salt.

TIP

The mango gastrique can be made up to one week ahead. The crab cakes can be made to step 3, up to eight hours ahead, covered and refrigerated.