Crab dip, sometimes referred to as Maryland crab dip,
is a thick, creamy
dip typically prepared from
cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...
and lump
crab meat
Crab meat, also known as crab marrow, is the edible meat found in a crab, or more specifically in its legs and claws. It is widely used in global cuisines for its soft, delicate and sweet flavor.
Crab meat is low in fat, and provides about o ...
.
Other primary ingredients such as
mayonnaise
Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...
may be used. Various types of crab preparations, species and
superfamilies are used, as are a variety of added ingredients. It is typically served hot, although cold versions also exist.
Hot versions are typically baked or broiled. It is sometimes served as an
appetizer
An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or th ...
.
Accompaniments may include crackers and various breads. Some U.S. restaurants offer crab dip, commercially produced varieties exist, and some stadiums offer it as a part of their concessions.
Ingredients
Fresh, frozen or canned
crab meat
Crab meat, also known as crab marrow, is the edible meat found in a crab, or more specifically in its legs and claws. It is widely used in global cuisines for its soft, delicate and sweet flavor.
Crab meat is low in fat, and provides about o ...
may be used in the preparation of crab dip.
Different types of crab meat may be used, such as jumbo lump,
lump
backfin,
leg
and claw, among others. Various types of crab species and superfamilies are also used, such as
blue crab Blue crab may refer to:
* Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design
* ''Callinectes sapidus
''Callinectes sapidus'' (from the Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek ,"beautiful" + , "swimmer", and Latin , "savory"), the blue crab, Atlantic blue ...
,
Dungeness crab
The Dungeness crab (''Metacarcinus magister'') makes up one of the most important seafood industries along the west coast of North America. Its typical range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, Califo ...
and Alaska
king crab,
among others.
Some versions may use mayonnaise, other types of cheese, such as pepper jack cheese, brie cheese or Cheddar cheese instead of or in addition to cream cheese as primary ingredients.
Some may incorporate other
seafood
Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...
s in addition to crab, such as
imitation crab
Crab sticks, krab sticks, snow legs, imitation crab meat, or seafood sticks are a Japanese seafood product made of ''surimi'' (pulverized white fish) and starch, then shaped and cured to resemble the leg meat of snow crab or Japanese spider cra ...
,
lobster
Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...
,
shrimp
A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
and
surimi
is a paste made from Fish as food, fish or other meat. It can also be any of a number of East Asian cuisine, East Asian foods that use that paste as their primary ingredient. It is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and is often ...
.
Additional ingredients may include mushrooms, artichoke, onion, green onion, shallot, green pepper, bread crumbs (such as
panko
Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...
),
heavy cream and others.
Bread crumbs may be used to top the dish, which may be browned during the cooking process creating a crust.
Sometimes Parmesan cheese is combined with the bread crumbs.
Some versions use
Old Bay Seasoning
Old Bay Seasoning is a spice mix, blend of herbs and spices that is marketed in the United States by McCormick & Company and originally created in Baltimore, Maryland.
The seasoning is a mix of celery salt (salt, celery seed), spices (including ...
as an ingredient to add flavor, and some are prepared spicy with the addition of ingredients such as hot sauce and red pepper.
crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...
atop
Preparation and service
Some U.S. restaurants offer crab dip on their menus.
Commercially
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...
crab dips are also
manufactured
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the
secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...
.
Crab dip can be prepared in advance, refrigerated, and cooked at a later time.
It may be served in bread that has been hollowed-out, such as a sourdough loaf.
Crab dip may be served with crackers,
flatbread
A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. A Se ...
,
pita
Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...
bread, bread,
crostino, pretzels and sliced vegetables, among other accompaniments.
toaster oven
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast, the color caused by the Maillard reaction. It typically consists of one or more slots into which bread is inserted, and heating elements, oft ...
File:Baked crab dip (2).jpg, alt=Crab dip served with vegetables, Crab dip served with vegetables
Stadium concessions
The
Nationals Park
Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...
baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...
in the Navy Yard neighborhood of
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, the home ballpark for the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
, offers a sandwich prepared with a
half-smoke, Maryland crab dip and Virginia ham called "The DMV" as part of its concessions.
It was reported in August 2014 that
Byrd Stadium
SECU Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. It is the home of Maryland Terrapins football and Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse, men's l ...
on the campus of the University of Maryland in
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...
planned to offer a large soft pretzel baked with crab dip and melted cheese that serves four people as part of its concessions.
Byrd Stadium also offers other foods prepared with crab, such as nachos and "crab fries".
See also
*
Clam dip
Clam dip is a Dip (food), dipping sauce and condiment prepared with clams, sour cream or cream cheese, and seasonings as primary ingredients. Various additional ingredients can be used. It is usually served chilled, although it is sometimes serv ...
*
Dipping sauce
A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato ch ...
*
List of crab dishes
This is a list of crab dishes. Crabs live in all the world's oceans, in fresh water, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton and are arthropoda and have a single pair of claws. Crab meat is the meat found within a crab. It is ...
*
List of hors d'oeuvre
This is a list of notable hors d'oeuvre, also referred to as appetizers or starters, which may be served either hot or cold. They are food items served before the main courses of a meal, and are also sometimes served at the dinner table as a part ...
References
External links
* {{commons category-inline
Baked foods
Condiments
Crab dishes
Dips (food)
Snack foods
Creamy dishes