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Trader Joe's Maryland Style Crab Cakes
What more can you say about Trader Joe's that hasn't already been said? They're a private label upscale grocery store that puts as much emphasis into the quality of their products as they do keeping their prices extraordinarily low. And if you happen to live in a state that allows them to sell beer and wine, they have an exceptional selection of private label and name brand wines for dirt cheap (even though the Two Buck Chuck no longer costs $2, it's still pretty damn cheap).
With all of these culinary treats available at affordable prices, it almost becomes a challenge to see if you can make it out of there with just two grocery bags and to keep costs under $40. Although it doesn't help when they have sample stations set up so you can try products you were recently introduced, or ones that you might easily pass over. But, then again, this is America, where we like to keep ourselves fat and happy.
Speaking of which, on a recent Trader Joe's run, there was a specific item that happened to jump into the shopping cart while walking down the frozen fish aisle. It was as if it was meant to be. That's right -- Maryland Style Crab Cakes. And for only $3.29! At that price, you figure, "How bad can it be?" Well, dear readers, this is what we are here to find out. So continue reading and see how it all worked out!
Trader Joe's Maryland Style Crab Cakes are 3 oz. in size and come in vacuum sealed packs of 2. The crab cake is made of 3 different types of crab meat (blue crab, jonah crab, and snow crab), mayonnaise, cornbread, whole eggs, green onion, flour, corn starch, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and spices.
There is no preferred or recommended cooking method, although the packaging suggests two. One way is to sauté the cakes in 2-3 tsp of oil (vegetable oil is recommended) over medium-high heat, which has been preheated for a minute. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip until golden brown.
The other cooking method is to cook in an oven or toaster oven at 450 degrees F on a pre-oiled baking sheet and brushed with melted butter for 7-9 minutes, then flipped for an additional 5-7 minutes. Serve when golden brown.
The crab cakes do not have much structure once defrosted, and become pretty mushy. It is at this point that they are next to impossible to cut out of the package, as the vacuum sealing conforms to the roundness of the cake. You may want to cut the frozen cakes out of the packaging first, as it will make life a lot easier on you. They will still be super fragile while cooking due as they are quite thin, so use a super thin but firm spatula to flip them over. Oven baking may just be the way to go with these puppies.
The crab cake itself is mostly breading, with some dry crab shreds in it. When you take a bite, you first notice the breading, then the dry stringy crab, and then the overpowering green onion flavor that wants to stick around far after you've taken that bite. Each subsequent bite brings a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick ot the taste buds of green onion. When you finally get past the onion and beading, the crab itself lacks flavor. Just that dry, stringy texture. The breading seems to lack any noticeable spicing other than green onion.
With all of the other flavors that Trader Joe's does right, this certainly isn't one of them. The state of Maryland should lobby to get their name removed from the packaging as to not be associated with such a poor implementation of a crab cake. If you are ever in a TJ's and have a hankering for crab cakes, go to the refrigerated section and pick up some pasteurized crab meat and make it yourself.
Additional Info
- Restaurant Name: Trader Joe's
- Address: Distribution may vary Found in Trader Joe's - Annapolis
- Restaurant Type: Retail
- Website: http://www.traderjoes.com/
- Review Date: 10/10/2011 4:54pm
- Item(s) Ordered: Maryland Style Crab Cakes
- Cooking Style: Sauteed
- Other Styles Available: Yes
- Available by mail order?: No
- Price: 3.29
- Order Type: Store Bought
- Crab Content: Mix
- Filler: Too Much
- Spice: Too Much
- Overall Impression: Stay Away
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Rating (out of 5 crabs):
