Dungeness Crab Cakes (Inspired by CLUTCH)

Let’s cut to the chase: the following recipe was directly inspired by the song “Hot Bottom Feeder”, by the band Clutch.

For the uninitiated, Clutch is a four-piece rock band from Maryland, who provide one of the most dynamic, enjoyable live shows I’ve ever seen. The quartet of rockers is headed by Neil Fallon, whose vocal stylings and eclectic lyrics are a perfect match for the band’s addictive brand of blues rock/funk metal. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to check them out; I’ll link a few videos below.

In “Hot Bottom Feeder”, off the 2018 album Book of Bad Decisions, Fallon’s lyrics are – oddly – a recipe for Maryland-style crab cakes, and the music video (linked above) is essentially a stylized cooking demonstration for the same.

The song and video inspired me to give crab cakes another go, though – being in the Pacific Northwest – I would have to forgo the Maryland blue crab in favor of my own local Dungeness. So, crab in hand, I set out to figure out some measurements (conspicuously missing from the video) and whip up a batch of these “Clutch” crab cakes with local Seattle ingredients.

Granted, they weren’t exactly what the song called for (the crab wasn’t from Maryland, a can, OR Vietnam), but they were still pretty damn tasty.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Dungeness Crab Meat
• 1 egg
• 4 tbs breadcrumbs
• 3 tbs mayo
• 2 tbs fresh parsley – finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• salt and pepper
• 1.5 tbs butter

Instructions:

1. Watch the music video.
2. Place the crab meat in a large mixing bowl, and gently squeeze the larger lumps to break up some of the meat – the large lumps won’t stick together as well
3. Crack the egg into the bowl with the crab, and add in the mayo, parsley, breadcrumbs, and mustard powder.
4. Mix it all together, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place a tablespoon of butter in a medium sized skillet, and heat it over medium heat.
6. As the pan heats up, form the crab mixture into four 1-inch think cakes (they won’t be perfect, which is cool)
   1. The lyrics mention using a biscuit cutter to form the cakes, but if you don’t have one (or a similar cookie-cutter) just form three-inch rounds by hand
7. When the pan is hot and the butter has started to bubble, place the cakes in the pan, and cook them until golden brown – this should take about 6 minutes per side, for a total of 12 minutes of time on the heat
8. Serve them on their own, with a side salad (for health), but – most importantly – with a tasty beverage to wash ’em down.
9. Enjoy!

Something to groove to while you cook: