Spice up your taste buds with fiery coconut crab…

September 8, 2018September 6, 2018
by Jacqueline Whitehart

Fiery chilli. Sweet coconut. Delicious crab. Yes, yes, yes. Put these spicy crab cakes on your table tonight

There’s little more gloriously British than salt-swept summers with the kids, teetering on seaweedy rocks and luring crabs by dangling cheap bacon on string into their briny puddles.

I hope you’ve had as lovely a summer as we have, wherever you’ve been.

Reminiscing about those seaside days out has made me think about why we eat so little crab in this country. We consume more fish and seafood than we used to but we undervalue the delicious crab, even though our shores are teeming with the snappy little critters.

The Spanish (closely followed by the French) love our crab and we export tons to mainland Europe every year. Given that crab is low in fat, high in protein, rich in vitamins and Omega 3 AND TASTES DELICIOUS, I think it’s time we celebrated it a bit more.

This recipe adds a touch of tropical flair to the crab meat, with a good hit of fiery chilli and a sweet bite of coconut. Serve with a fresh green salad and mustard dressing.

Fiery coconut crab cakes

233 calories

These are very easy and delicious. I use canned crabmeat here for super simplicity.

Serves 1 • Ready in 8 mins

1 × 170g (6oz) can white crabmeat, drained (120g/4oz drained weight) (92 cals)
1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour (68 cals)
1 tbsp (10g/¹/³oz) desiccated (dry unsweetened) coconut (60 cals)
2 slices jalapeño peppers (from a jar), chopped (4 cals)
pinch of sugar (4 cals)
juice of ½ lime (2 cals)
few sprays light oil (3 cals)
lime wedge, to serve

• Combine the crabmeat, flour, coconut, jalapeños, sugar and lime juice in a bowl, then form the mixture into 4–6 small balls. Place the balls on a baking tray and press down gently with the back of a fork to make a small patty. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill for 30 minutes until set.
• Heat a wide non-stick frying pan (skillet) over a high heat with a little spray oil. When hot, lift the patties into the pan, leaving as much space as you can between them and cook for about 1 minute on each side. They should be pleasingly golden and heated right through inside.
• Serve immediately with a wedge of lime on the side.