Crab Hush Puppies with Aioli sauce

We used to frequent Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and order their Hush Pups, which I absolutely love. So I was excited to find this recipe again from my Costco cookbook. I had bought some canned lump crab meat from Costco about 2 weeks ago with the intentions of making this recipe one day. And so before the crab meat goes bad, I decided to finally make it for lunch today. And boy were they good. I served this with a quick Aioli that I made. This recipe makes a huge batch, so I called my brother up to see if he wanted me to set him aside some. He loves Bubba Gump's Hush Pups as well. So he'll be coming by later today.

4 cups canola oil for frying

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

1/2 - 2 Tbsp. hot sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 lb. lump crab meat

1 cup corn kernels

5 large green onions, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. butter

Aioli sauce

1) Heat oil in a heavy pot over high heat until it reaches 275 deg F. Preheat oven to 250 deg F.

2) While the oil is heating, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and hot sauce. Add liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until combined. Fold in crab and corn kernels.

3) Over medium heat, saute green onions in butter until soft. Stir into batter.

4) Using 2 teaspoons, carefully add 1 rounded teaspoon full of batter to the hot oil and fry, turning until golden for 3-4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain briefly. Transfer hush puppies to a shallow baking pan and keep hot in the oven while frying the remaining batter. Serve immediately with aioli sauce.

Aioli sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. mustard

1 tsp. pepper onion relish (or regular pickled relish)

salt & pepper to taste

1) Stir all ingredients together until well combined. Season with salt & pepper to your liking