Today we are going to be making a Spicy Kanikama Salad. I first had this dish as an appetizer in a Shabu Shabu restaurant in New York and I absolutely loved it. It’s nice, light and packs a little bit of a kick.
It goes great with other Japanese cuisine but you can have it as meal all by itself.
Here are the ingredients you will need.
- One 12 ounce package of imitation crab meat.
- ¾ of a Cup of Mayonnaise – Get it here on Amazon http://amzn.to/23vgCzl
- Juice of ½ a Lemon
- 3 tbsp. of Rice Wine Vinegar – Get it here on Amazon http://amzn.to/25TpJw5
- 2 tbsp. of Sriracha sauce – Get it here on Amazon http://amzn.to/1SqSg1U
- ½ of a Large Cucumber
- 2 Green Onions
- Panko bread crumbs – Get it here on Amazon http://amzn.to/1N2UlF4
Preparation
Because the imitation crab meat is already cooked, there is no actual cooking that happens. The first thing you will need to do is shred the imitation crab so that you have stringy flakey bits. This will add to the texture and presentation. It should look something like this:
Once the crab is shredded we are ready to prepare the cucumber. I made the cucumber into noodles using the Spiralizer. If you want to learn how to use this great device, you can click here and read an earlier post I made.
Chop the green onions into fine bits, this will be used as garnish later.
The Sauce
Pour the mayonnaise into a mixing bowl. Mix the Lemon juice, rice vinegar, and Sriracha into the mayo and whisk it until it has a nice pink consistency. Once the sauce is ready pour the shredded imitation crab meat into the sauce and mix it until it coats the meat.
You are now ready to assemble the salad.
- Grab a bowl and first put the cucumber as a base.
- Lump the crab meat on top of the cucumber
- Sprinkle the desired amount of panko on the crab
- Garnish with the chopped onions and serve
Feel free to experiment with the recipe. I began with some recipes that I found on the internet but found that they were too heavy on the mayo and not enough on the vinegar. I added the citrus element and it really improved the sauce. The next time I make this I will likely up the citrus even more and see what the results are.
Be creative, that’s what makes cooking fun.
Thanks for reading
