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Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Baby Bok Choy

Hong Kong Crab Cakes

with Baby Bok Choy

1½ hours

Hong Kong is a truly eye-popping place for a food lover. The dai pai dong (food stalls) around Stanley Street on Hong Kong Island are full of noodle shops, fishmongers, live chickens, and a dazzling display of the strangest produce I have ever seen. The whole place smells like ginger and fresh coriander—I had a blast. When I got back to New York I was playing around with some of the flavors that I had experienced and came up with these crab cakes. Although crab cakes are not exactly Chinese, the flavors are pure Hong Kong. These crab cakes can easily be prepared ahead of time. Serve with Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice.

Makes 4 crab cakes * Serves 2

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

1½ 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

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

¼ cup oyster sauce

Juice of ½ lemon

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 ¼ 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.

Slow-Baked Salmon

with Asparagus and

Honey-Onion Marmalade

1 hour

I am a big fan of flavor on a plate that’s light and effortless. I don’t need a “balanced” dinner with starch and the whole bit; just give me stuff that tastes good. The delicate flavors of the herbs go great with the salmon and asparagus. It’s hard to believe a dish that takes only an hour has such big flavor. Cooking the salmon by the “low and slow” method keeps this fatty fish really moist.

Serves 2

Salmon and Asparagus

¼ bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ bunch fresh chives

¼ bunch fresh tarragon

¼ bunch fresh cilantro

1½ teaspoons dry mustard

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons canola oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 salmon fillets, 6 to 8 ounces each, skin