HONG KONG CRAB CAKES WITH BABY BOK CHOY

Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Baby Bok Choy image

Categories Bread Cake Sauce Side Fry Low Sodium Crab Bok Choy

Yield makes 4 crabs cakes (serves 2)

Number Of Ingredients 21

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Ingredients

Crab Cakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Peanut oil
1 pound lump crabmeat, preferably Dungeness, picked over for shells
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (see Note)
1 green onion, finely chopped, white and green parts
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons red chili paste, such as sambal
Juice of 1 lemon
1 egg white
Sea salt and ground white pepper
Bok Choy
Peanut oil
2-inch piece fresh ginger
2 heads baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Toasted sesame seeds (see Note), chopped cilantro, and sliced green onion, for garnish

Steps:

2 tablespoons brown sugar Toasted sesame seeds (see Note), chopped cilantro, and sliced green onion, for garnish Sauté the garlic and ginger in a tablespoon of peanut oil for a few minutes; cooking them first really releases a lot of flavor and gives the crab cakes depth. Remove from the heat. In a mixing bowl, combine the crabmeat, bread crumbs, green onion, mayonnaise, chili paste, lemon juice, and egg white. Scrape the garlic-ginger oil into the bowl; season with salt and pepper. Fold the ingredients together gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the crabmeat. Using your hands, form the mixture into 4 crab cakes; they should be moist and just hold together. Put the crab cakes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate while preparing the bok choy. This allows the flavors to blend and the crab cakes to set.
Cover the bottom of a skillet with a 2-count drizzle of peanut oil and heat until almost smoking. Split the piece of ginger open with a knife, then whack it with the flat side of the knife to release the flavor. Lay the ginger pieces in the oil, cut-side down, to let them start to perfume. Pan-fry the bok choy, cut-side down, for a couple of minutes to give it some color. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Thin out the sauce with 3/4 cup of water. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the sauce has a syrupy consistency.
While that's happening, coat another skillet with a 4-count of peanut oil and bring it to a slight smoke over medium heat. Fry the crab cakes until brown, about 5 minutes on each side, turning carefully with a spatula. Serve the crab cakes with the bok choy and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, and green onion.
notes
To make fresh bread crumbs: Cut the crusts off some stale bread and pulse it in a food processor.
To toast sesame seeds: Put the sesame seeds in a dry skillet. Place over medium-low heat and shake the pan constantly until the seeds are golden brown.