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1
Combine the egg, mayonnaise, Dijon, Worcestershire, and Old Bay in a bowl and mix until uniform. The binder should be cohesive and pale — no streaks of unmixed yolk.
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2
Add the picked crabmeat to the binder. Fold with a light hand, turning the mixture as few times as possible to keep the lumps intact. This is where the dish lives or dies: over-mixing breaks the lump structure and reduces the crab to paste, destroying the Chesapeake standard that the crab must dominate. The finished mixture should show whole or near-whole lumps throughout.
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3
Form the mixture into eight equal cakes. Handle them minimally; the cakes will be loose. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until they hold their shape when lifted on a spatula.
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4
To pan-fry: heat a film of neutral oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the cakes without crowding and cook undisturbed until the underside is deep golden-brown and releases cleanly from the pan. To broil: place on a lightly oiled tray under a hot broiler until the surface colours and the interior is set. In both cases the cakes are ready when the exterior is firm and deeply golden and the interior yields slightly to pressure without feeling raw.
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5
Serve immediately with remoulade or tartar sauce alongside. The cakes should smell of sweet sea crab, not of egg or filler.