Mariner’s Menu

Enjoy springtime with these fresh recipes.

Mariner’s Menu, North Carolina Sea Grant’s popular online seafood guide, features blogger and photographer Vanda Lewis’s pictures with hundreds of recipes that Joyce Taylor developed. Enjoy springtime with these fresh seafood recipes.

Crab Cakes with Wasabi Sauce

• 1 pound lump of crabmeat
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup of chopped green onion, including tops
• 1/4 cup of chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup of chopped celery
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 cups of panko bread crumbs, divided
• 3 tablespoons of canola oil for frying

Prepare the wasabi sauce (below) and refrigerate.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Sauté the green onion, bell pepper, and celery until tender. Remove it from heat. Stir in mayonnaise, egg, mustard, ginger, and salt.

Blend in 1 cup of crumbs. Mix in the crabmeat, being careful not to break the meat apart. Shape into 6 to 8 crab cakes. Coat them lightly with the remaining crumbs.

Fry them in hot oil until brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Gently turn the cakes over and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes or until done.

Drain them on paper towels. Serve them with Wasabi Sauce.

Wasabi Sauce

• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of wasabi sauce

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, soy sauce, and wasabi sauce.

Refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve it with the crab cakes.   

Cream of Shrimp Soup

• 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp, in shells
• 1 cup of light cream
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/3 cup of minced onion
• 1/2 cup of minced celery
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon of minced fresh parsley

Cook the shrimp in salted water. Peel and devein them. Purée the shrimp with light cream in a food processor, or mince them and combine with cream.

Melt butter in the top of a double boiler. Sauté onion and celery until just translucent. Blend in flour, then salt, paprika, pepper, and Worcestershire.

Add the shrimp mixture. Slowly blend in the milk and cream, stirring continually until it is slightly thickened. Pour it into individual serving bowls, and sprinkle it with parsley.

For hundreds more free seafood recipes, visit MarinersMenu.org.  

FROM THE SPRING 2025 ISSUE