Name: Crab Cakes with Imperial Sauce
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise; 1/4 cup juice from 2 lemons; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons hot sauce; 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning; 1 1/2 pounds crabmeat, picked over for shells; 1 1/4 cups Saltine crackers (1 sleeve); 4 scallions, minced; 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Why This Recipe Works

When it comes to crab cake recipes, we think the simpler, the better. While some crab cake recipes use bread crumbs to bind the cakes together, we found that saltines worked better. They add more flavor than bread crumbs and don’t turn soggy or pasty the way bread crumbs can.

Before You Begin

If you can find it, buy fresh lump crabmeat for the crab cakes—it's more expensive but worth every penny. You'll need 1 sleeve of saltines here; crush them until most have turned to dust, leaving a few pieces no bigger than a pebble.

Instructions

Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and Old Bay in large bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup sauce for serving.

Fold crabmeat, saltines, and scallions into remaining sauce until combined. Form crabmeat mixture into eight 1-inch-thick patties.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add 4 crab cakes and cook until golden brown, 21/2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and tent with foil. Repeat with remaining oil and crab cakes. Serve with reserved sauce.