Crab stick

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 crab. It is a product that uses fish meat to imitate shellfish meat.

Crab stick

Crab sticks – imitation crab meat surimi.
Alternative names	imitation crab meat, seafood sticks, krab
Place of origin	Japan
Main ingredients	white fish
Media: Crab stick

In Japanese, it is called kanikama (カニカマ), a portmanteau of kani ("crab") and kamaboko ("fish cake"). In the United States, it is often simply called kani.

History

Kaoribako, a high grade imitation crab from Sugiyo, the first company to make crab sticks

The Japanese company Sugiyo first produced and patented imitation crab flesh in 1974, as kanikama. This was a flake type. In 1975, the company Osaki Suisan first produced and patented imitation crab sticks.

In 1977, The Berelson Company of San Francisco, California, US, working with Sugiyo, introduced them internationally. Kanikama is still their common name in Japan, but internationally they are marketed under names including Krab Sticks, Ocean Sticks, Sea Legs and Imitation Crab Sticks. Legal restrictions now prevent them from being marketed as "Crab Sticks" in many places, as they usually do not have crab flesh.

Composition

Two "crab flavored fish cake" (fish-only crab sticks), and one "imitation crab meat" (contains 3% red snow crab).

Most crab sticks today are made from Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) of the North Pacific Ocean. This main ingredient is often mixed with fillers such as wheat, and egg white (albumen) or other binding ingredient, such as the enzyme transglutaminase. Crab flavoring is added (natural or more commonly, artificial) and a layer of red food coloring is applied to the outside.

Uses

Crab sticks are used in sushi, salads, fried in tempura, and many other dishes.

• 
  As sushi
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  As salad
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  With noodles
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  Fried as tempura
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  Mixed in potato salad
• 
  Wrapped in rice paper

See also

• Fish ball
• Kamaboko
• Surimi

Further reading

• Imitation crab meat. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from
• Seafood Health Facts: Making Smart Choices. Retrieved April 29, 2014 from