• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Meaty with a dash of veggies

  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter

Crab furai (Japanese-style crab cakes)

12.11.2020 (Updated: 02.24.2025) in Appetizers, Bar food, Lunch / Dinner, Main Courses, Snacks

Seasoned simply with salt and pepper to make the crab flavor stand out, the patties are floured, dipped in egg then coated with panko before frying.

Crab furai (Japanese-style crab cakes)
Crab furai (Japanese-style crab cakes) served with a dipping sauce of Japanese mayo and freshly squeezed lemon juice sprinkled with shichimi togarashi

I know — the crab cakes look “katsu”. Say “katsu” and most non-Japanese people I know think of deep-fried panko-coated deep fried pork, chicken and even vegetables.

Pretty much anything can be cooked katsu-style including crab. But since “katsu” means cutlet and there is no cutlet in this recipe, the crab cakes are crab furai.

Katsu? Furai? What’s the difference? Not much. The process of coating the main ingredient and the deep-frying that comes after are the same. Except there is no cutlet in furai.

Frying Japanese-style crab cakes

This is a fairly easy dish to make. Frozen flaked crab meat was used and all it needed was seasoning. Sweet corn kernels also went into the patties to provide contrast in flavor and texture. After the patties were floured, dipped in egg and smothered with panko, they were deep fried until golden and crisp.

Draining fried crab cakes on paper towels

The fried crab cakes were laid on a stack of paper towels to remove excess oil. While that was happening, there was just enough time to make a dipping sauce.

Mixing Japanese mayo with lemon juice

The dipping sauce is a simple affair. Just a mixture of Japanese mayo and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Nothing else. The only thing that’s crucial here is creating a flavor balance that suits your palate best.

Crab furai (Japanese-style crab cakes)
Crab furai (Japanese-style crab cakes)
Connie Veneracion
Flaked crab meat, corn and seasonings are shaped into patties, dredged in flour, dipped in beaten egg, covered in panko then deep fried until golden. Crab furai can be served as a snack, appetizer or main course.
Prep Time 7 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 12 minutes mins
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 300 grams flaked cooked crab meat
  • ⅓ cup sweet corn kernals (we used canned)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon potato starch
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg beaten
  • ½ cup panko
  • cooking oil for deep frying
  • ½ cup Japanese mayonnaise
  • lemon juice
  • lemon wedges to serve

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl, mix together the crab meat, corn, salt, pepper and starch.
  • Divide the crab mixture into eight equal portions and shape each portion into a patty about an inch thick.
  • Place the flour, egg and panko in separate shallow bowls.
  • Dredge each crab patty in flour, coat with egg then cover with panko.
  • In a frying pan, heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least two inches.
  • Fry the crab patties (in batches if your frying pan is not so wide) until the coating is golden and crisp.
  • Drain the cooked crab furai on paper towels.
  • Stir lemon juice into the mayonnaise — just enough to make a pleasant balance.
  • Serve the crab furai with the blended Japanese mayonnaise, and lemon wedges on the side.
Pin Send Print

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, the blog owner earns commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

In the spotlight

Soy sesame scallion noodles

Soy sesame scallion noodles

Teriyaki bacon rice balls

Teriyaki bacon rice balls

Spicy tempura-style crispy green beans with Sriracha mayo dipping sauce

Tempura-style crispy green beans

Korean fried chicken wings

Korean fried chicken wings

Shrimp spring rolls

Hungry for more?

Subscribe to the newsletter to get the latest posts in your inbox.

No spam. Read the privacy policy.

More Seafood

Tuna and tofu spring rolls with sweet chili sauce

Tuna and tofu spring rolls

Bangus a la pobre: fried milkfish fillets with sauce and onion rings

Bangus (milkfish) a la pobre

Whole shrimps with lemon garlic butter sauce

Whole shrimps with lemon garlic butter sauce

Shrimp tom yum

Shrimp tom yum

Sidebar

Connie Veneracion, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Home cook and writer by passion, photographer by necessity, and good food, coffee and wine lover forever. I write recipes, cooking tips and food stories. No AI is used in creating content for this blog.

More about me and Umami Days.

  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • No AI
  • Contact

Created by a human for humans · Copyright © 2025 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved