Pan-seared Dungeness crab cakes with basil sauce

Smell the crab meat: fresh crab should smell of little more than a light scent of the ocean.

Squeeze the crab meat by hand over a bowl to remove the juices, place the meat in a bowl and discard the juices; the meat must be very dry or the cakes fall apart.

Separate the basil leaves from the stems, stack them and chop finely; add to the crab.

Season lightly with salt and pepper, add the sesame oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise; mix and taste.

Use only enough mayonnaise to bind: squeezed in the hand, the mixture should hold its shape.

Mix the sesame seeds and breadcrumb on a plate.

Set a cookie cutter on the cutting board, spoon in the crab mixture and press down; lift out with a spatula.

Roll each cake gently in the breadcrumb and sesame mixture until coated all around and place on a tray; wash hands between cakes.

Refrigerate the crab cakes for at least one hour.

For the sauce, whisk the unused mayonnaise with lemon juice, then whisk in the top part of the basil mousse until the sauce turns green.

Taste, season with salt and pepper, and keep the sauce refrigerated.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil, and fry the crab cakes 3 to 5 minutes on each side until golden brown, without letting the seeds burn.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Shake the pan so the cakes do not stick; cook in batches without crowding, changing the oil and cleaning the pan between batches so burnt seeds are not carried over.

Transfer the crab cakes to a cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes.

Wash the pan, heat about a tablespoon and a half of vegetable oil over high heat and fry the rice noodles until golden brown; drain on a paper towel.

Plate: ladle the sauce into the centre of the plate and spread it round with the back of the ladle, set the crab cake in the centre, garnish with red bell pepper coulis and the fried noodles.