Keto Crab Cakes – Grain Free Option

Thomas Keller has a fabulous crab cake recipe in his book, Ad Hoc at Home. This is a riff on that original recipe. 

Thomas Keller is one of the best chefs in America and is famous for his very high end restaurant in Napa, the French Laundry. 

 You might remember that the French Laundry was recently made a bit famous by the California governor, which is too bad, as it was already famous but for all the right reasons. For regular folks like us 

Ad Hoc is a the scaled down eatery for regular people and also located in Napa Valley.  We ate there a few years ago, munching on fried chicken, this asparagus with gremolata,  potatoes and more.

Although it’s not the French Laundry, you still need to make your reservations well in advance and give a deposit. They serve one meal per seating and you don’t get to choose, so just go prepared to enjoy some heightened comfort food in an approachable setting. 

I  love the recipes in the Ad Hoc Cookbook, featuring Iconic American dishes,  because you and I  can actually make them and we probably have most of the ingredients in our pantry.

Crab Cakes Gluten Free/ Keto Option

I’ve made these crab cakes several times but this time. I substituted the panko bread crumbs with pork panko. To my wonderful surprise, it worked. I only used the pork panko to bread the crab cakes, not for the mix itself. 

What is Pork Panko?

Did you know that even if you’re on the keto diet, the gluten free diet or the grain free diet, you can still have amazing crunchy breaded crab cakes?

The breading is not bread at all, but Pork Panko, crushed pork skins. You can make your own breading or buy Pork Panko already made into keto look-alike bread crumbs. Costco sells them now for a very good price.

There is a trick to frying with pork panko, and it took me a while to discover this trick. Once I  did, I  was able to get the crispy crunch I  was looking for.

How to fry Keto Crab Cakes with Pork Panko?

The secret is not to use any oil. I  only used a small amount of baking spray and no oil. Pork panko is already fat. It’s pork skins and can get soggy with added oil. I  actually accidentally discovered this as I  was going to bake my crab cakes and just start them on top of the stove. When I  turned the crab cakes over, I  discovered an amazing crunch. Once my crab cakes were done on the other side, that side also had crunch and the crunch stayed. This is a dream discovery. You can use as much or as little pork panko you desire. 

What Crab to Use for Grain Free Crab Cakes

Thomas Keller doesn’t use blue crab, because it is is not indigenous to Northern California. However, I  think a good crab cake has to be made with jumbo blue crab to be an authentic Maryland style crab cake, because that’s how I  grew up and there is no real substitute. Although expensive, a can will make six filling crab cakes. I  grew up on blue crab because it was easily accessible coming from Baltimore, 90 minutes away. I  had no idea it was such a delicacy and that all of America was not enjoying blue crab. If you’ve never had blue crab, you can buy it at Costco for about $25, but that’s the price of one or two crab cakes  in a restaurant (if they use blue crab). 

How to Mix and Make Authentic Keto Crab Cakes

I’ve taken some liberties with adapting the original recipe. I  added lemon but eliminated butter, onion, garlic and peppers. This recipe is closer to the crab cakes I  grew up on.

Read my article here that breaks down the differences and similarities between these diets. Did you know that most keto friendly food is gluten free, but much gluten free baking is not keto friendly. Find out how to sort these differences.

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