Why Restaurant Crab Cakes Always Taste Better Than Homemade

Delicate yet decadent, the richness of a restaurant crab cake can be a tricky thing to perfect at home. But the good news is that professional chefs don't do anything to make perfect crab cakes that you cannot do at home. Russell Kook, executive chef at The Bellevue, a stylish restaurant in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, told Daily Meal his tips for restaurant-quality crab cakes. And as with many foods, it starts with quality. "At the restaurant, we always use the best product available — jumbo lump crab meat," Kook said.

This high-quality meat provides the ideal texture with a perfectly sweet flavor you cannot reliably get from lower-quality crab meat. With the best product in hand, Kook advised that it must be treated as delicately as it tastes. Using your palms, he said, "Gently fold the ingredients together, ensuring the crab stays in large, tender chunks instead of breaking apart."

Unlike mixing breadcrumbs into meatballs, big chunks of crab are the heart of a crab cake's great texture. Mashing and shredding them into tiny pieces will lose a lot of flavor.

If you want to make the best crab cakes at home, "jumbo lump blue crab is the gold standard," Russell Kook told Daily Meal. "It has the best flavor, texture, and appearance, giving crab cakes that signature restaurant-quality bite."

A crab cake is a relatively simple food item, allowing the best ingredients to shine through an uncomplicated flavor profile. The rich sweetness of jumbo lump blue crab is irreplaceable in a restaurant-quality crab cake. "It can be more expensive than other options," Kook said, "but it's worth it."

If you live near a crabbing area like the Chesapeake Bay or southern Louisiana, fresh jumbo lump blue crab should be available at any seafood market or specialty grocery store. People with less access to the freshest catch will have to shop for a high-quality canned crab at a local grocery store.

When making your crab cakes, the star of the plate should be the crab. The binder is important to a good crab cake, but you must protect the gentle flavor of the crab from drowning in the rest of the cake. "The key is to use just enough binder to hold everything together without overwhelming the crab," Russell Kook told us.

In Maryland, the seasoning blend for crab cakes would be Old Bay. But for Kook's crab cakes, "I like a mix of sour cream and may for moisture," he said, "plus a touch of lemon juice and seasoning to enhance the flavor." He also adds a small amount of breadcrumbs, but not enough to saturate the crab cake.

You may find that this fairly wet mixture doesn't hold its shape well. That's why Kook recommended using ring molds to shape a crab cake. "Letting them chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before breading ensures they hold their shape when cooking," he said.

Cooking a restaurant-grade crab cake is a lot like cooking a restaurant-grade steak: sear it in a pan and finish it in the oven. "Keep it simple," Russell Kook said. But unlike steak, crab is too delicate to sear in a screaming hot pan. Instead, cook it in a medium-hot pan until the underside gets a perfect golden-brown color. Then, flip your crab cake and stick the entire pan in the oven until it's warm throughout. "This method gives you a crisp exterior while keeping the inside moist and delicate," Kook told us.

Deep-frying crab cakes is another common preparation method, but Kook sticks to pan-searing "because it enhances the crab's natural sweetness without making it too greasy." Crab is a delicate meat best treated gently — the opposite of the bubbling hot grease in a deep fryer.

A restaurant-quality crab cake should be delicious all on its own, but that doesn't mean you can't kick things up even further with a great sauce. And once again, Russell Kook centers the flavor of the crab in his considerations. "A creamy, mayo-based sauce with a touch of acidity and spice is a classic pairing," he said, "because it complements the crab's sweetness."

And although the classics are classics for a reason, crab cakes can go with a range of light sauces. "One unexpected sauce I've enjoyed is a béarnaise," Kook told us, who was pleasantly surprised by the richness and depth it added to the crab.

But sometimes good flavor pairings provide contrast, like a chili crunch sauce, to bring "heat and texture that contrast nicely with the delicate crab." The only sauces Kook would generally avoid? "Anything too overpowering." Don't forget to center the flavor of the crab.

"Patience and preparation are key" to a restaurant-quality crab cake, Russell Kook shared. "Take your time with each step — gently mix, let the cakes set up before cooking, and don't rush the process." A great crab cake requires a delicate touch and thoughtful composition — you simply can't hurry through it and expect the best results.

If nothing else, there's a big chunk of time in the middle that cannot be hurried along without total disaster. "Letting the mixture rest in the fridge before cooking is essential for structure," he said, unless you want your crab cake to be more of a crab salad.

But for the most important tip, Kook takes us back to the start of the entire process. "Use the best crab you can find — great crab cakes start with great crab."