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Crab Meat Canapé

A canapé of crab meat mixed with béchamel, egg yolks, and green onions, topped with breadcrumbs, Parmesan, butter, parsley, and lemon.

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Why it works: Crab and meat work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 448 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

Crab Meat Canapé

Oven350°F
Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the crab mixture

  1. Pick over crab meat carefully with your fingers to assure the absence of crab shell.

  2. Saute green onions in clarified butter over medium heat until soft. Do not allow onions to brown.

  3. Add white lump crab meat, then fold in béchamel sauce.

  4. When mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat and fold in beaten egg yolks.

  5. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to form canapés.

Assemble and bake

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl.

  3. Trim the ends of the toast and place trimmed toast on a baking sheet.

  4. Spoon refrigerated crab meat mixture onto toast, using an ice-cream scoop.

  5. Sprinkle canapés with breadcrumb and Parmesan cheese mixture.

  6. Dot each canapé with soft butter.

  7. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve

  1. Garnish each serving with flat-leaf parsley and a wedge of lemon.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

907Calories
55 gProtein
26 gFat
112 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Shrimp100g cooked99
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot in our table0
Meatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  2. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Butter + crabtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together812 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Sauce + crabtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together238 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Crab meat
Provides the main body and savory flavor of the filling.
Béchamel sauce
Adds creamy moisture so the filling stays soft and spoonable.
Egg yolks
Enriches and sets the filling gently when heated, giving it body.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and helps the topping brown in the oven.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping that browns during baking.
Toast
Gives the canapés a crisp base that holds the filling.

The step that matters

Do not brown the green onions. Gentle sauteing softens the onions and keeps their flavor fresh and sweet. Browning them adds bitterness and a harsh taste that clashes with the delicate crab.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, pepper, butter, crab, meat, egg, parmesan cheese):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Mustardfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, pepper, butter, crab, meat, egg, parmesan cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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