Thai Style Crab Cakes

These Thai style crab cakes are light, fragrant, and packed with fresh seafood flavour. Sweet crabmeat and prawns are blended with kaffir lime leaves, fresh chilli, coriander, and spring onion, then coated in crisp panko breadcrumbs and shallow fried until golden. Served with a bold Thai seafood dipping sauce, they make an elegant starter that feels festive yet surprisingly simple to prepare.

This recipe was featured on Eva Pau’s Asian Christmas and is a wonderful example of how simple ingredients can deliver bright, layered flavour. The combination of delicate seafood with aromatic Thai herbs creates crab cakes that are crisp on the outside and soft in the centre. The dipping sauce brings heat, sweetness, and acidity, making every bite fresh and lively. Perfect for entertaining, these crab cakes can be prepared quickly and served as a starter that always feels special.

Thai Style Crab Cakes

These Thai style crab cakes are light, fragrant, and packed with fresh seafood flavour. Sweet crabmeat and prawns are blended with kaffir lime leaves, fresh chilli, coriander, and spring onion, then coated in crisp panko breadcrumbs and shallow fried until golden.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the Crab Cakes

• 200 g crabmeat
• 100 g raw peeled and deveined prawns
• 3 spring onions finely chopped
• 2 stalks fresh coriander finely chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 large fresh red chilli
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp white pepper
• 1 egg beaten
• 80 g panko breadcrumbs

For the Thai Seafood Sauce

• 70 g palm sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 50 g fresh large green chilli
• 1 fresh large red chilli
• 3 stalks fresh coriander cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice

Method

 

Crab Cakes

1. Add the prawns, spring onion, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, red chilli, fish sauce, cornflour, salt, and white pepper to a blender. Blitz until smooth for 2–3 minutes.
2. Transfer the prawn mixture into a bowl and add the crabmeat. Mix gently until well combined.
3. Take a heaped tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball. Flatten slightly into a cake shape. Dip into beaten egg, then coat evenly in panko breadcrumbs. Repeat until all mixture is used.
4. Heat about 1½ inches of oil in a wok or deep frying pan to 170°C. Shallow fry the crab cakes for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
5. Transfer to kitchen paper and allow to rest while preparing the dipping sauce.

Thai Seafood Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, combine palm sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and gently heat until dissolved into a syrup. Set aside.
2. Add green chilli, red chilli, coriander, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, and 1 to 1½ tablespoons of palm sugar syrup to a blender. Blend for 2–3 minutes until smooth.
3. Serve the dipping sauce alongside the warm crab cakes.

Notes

• For extra texture, keep a few small crab pieces whole rather than mixing completely smooth.
• Kaffir lime leaves give the authentic Thai aroma, so finely chop them well before blending.
• Best served immediately while crisp.