Authentic Cuban Crab Rolls- Guest Post by About A Mom

Guest post from Laura and Angela, mom and daughter bloggers of About A Mom.

Authentic Cuban Crab Rolls

We lived in Tampa, Florida for many years, a city with a rich Cuban heritage and culture. After moving to rural Georgia about a year ago, we find ourselves missing the authentic Cuban cuisine from many of our favorite restaurants and cafes. If you haven’t had Cuban Crab Rolls from Tampa, you are truly missing something! This was our first attempt at making the crab rolls and the results were great. Plan to give this recipe the better part of a day to prepare. It is truly a labor of love, but the results are well worth it! These were the best Cuban Crab Rolls we have ever eaten.

Ingredients for Croquette Dough:

• 3 loaves stale white bread
• 1 loaf stale Cuban bread (ground very fine and sifted)*
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt

Directions for Croquette Dough:

Soak white bread in water 15 minutes. Remove, squeeze until almost dry. Add Cuban bread gradually until dough is formed. Add paprika, salt and mix well. Make a ball from dough. Place in refrigerator for about 3 hours.

Ingredients for Crab Meat Filling:

• 5 tbsp oil
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• ½ red pepper, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves mashed
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1 lb can fresh crab meat – claws – picked over and shredded

Directions for Crab Meat Filling:

Saute the onion, peppers, garlic, and hot pepper in oil for about 15 minutes, until tender. Add bay leaves, sugar, salt, and tomato paste. Stir until well combined. Cover and cook 15 minutes on low heat. Add crabmeat and cook an additional 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Put into the refrigerator for 2 hours.

To make Crab Rolls:

Take about 3 tablespoons dough, press into the palm of your hand. Add 1 tbsp crab
mixture. Seal like croquette with 2 pointed ends.

Ingredients and Preparation for Dipping:

1. 2 eggs well beaten combined with ½ cup milk, salt, and dash black pepper.
2. Mix 1 cup cracker meal (ground saltine crackers) and ½ cup flour.

First roll croquettes in the cracker/flour mixture. Then dip in egg mix, then again into the cracker/flour mixture. Wrap each individual roll in a piece of aluminum foil, sealing ends. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove each crab roll from foil wrapper and fry in cooking oil until brown. We were able to fry the rolls 2 at a time in our fry daddy. It didn’t take very long using this method. Serve with hot sauce and ketchup.

Notes: If Cuban bread is not available, you can substitute French bread.

We made a double batch of the recipe above, but one would have been plenty for our large family.