Japanese Kani Salad Recipe - Easy Crab Stick Salad - Norecipes

4.41 from 15 votes With crunchy vegetables and savory crab sticks, Japanese Kani Salad is a popular side dish served at sushi restaurants around the world. I'll show you how to make this easy delicious salad at home in this recipe. Recipe Video

Kani Salad (カニカマ サラダ)

Kani Salad is a delicious Japanese seafood salad brimming with contrasting textures, tastes, and colors. Although it's known as Kani Salad in the West, the imitation crab meat used to make the dish is called kanikama in Japanese, so in Japan, the dish is known as Kanikama Sarada (カニカマ サラダ).

Kani means "crab" in Japanese, and kama is short for kamaboko, a traditional Japanese fishcake. Despite having "crab" in the name, kanikama is made from white fish such as pollock or cod. There's some debate over who invented it, but it was created in the mid-1970s as a new style of kamaboko that has a similar taste and texture to crab meat. Combining these crab sticks with mayonnaise to make a salad has been around since the early days of kanikama, and both imitation crab and Kani Salad have become popular worldwide.

In my Kani Salad recipe, I combine crunchy vegetables, including cucumbers and carrots, with slippery glass noodles to create a contrast of tastes and textures. The creamy mayonnaise in the dressing is balanced out by a refreshing hit of tangy lemon juice and zest.

Jump to:

• Kani Salad (カニカマ サラダ)
• Why My Recipe Works
• Kani Salad Ingredients
• How to Make Kani Salad
• Variations on Kani Salad
• Serve this With
• 📖 Recipe
• FAQ
• Comments

Why My Recipe Works

• Salting the vegetables to coax out their water is a technique called shiomomi (literally "rubbed with salt" in Japanese). It removes excess water from the vegetables, keeping the salad from getting soggy. It also gives the vegetables a nice crunch, similar to pickles.
• Glass noodles add another layer of texture to the salad while bulking it up.
• Combining Japanese mayonnaise and lemon zest/juice creates a creamy yet refreshing mayonnaise-based dressing.

Kani Salad Ingredients

• Crab sticks - Crab sticks or kanikama is imitation crab made with surimi (fish paste) seasoned and shaped into textured sticks resembling shelled crab meat.
• Cucumber - Sliced cucumbers contribute a nice crunchy texture to the Kani Salad once salted and squeezed. I recommend using a thin-skinned, seedless variety of cucumbers such as Japanese, Lebanese, or Persian. Hothouse or English cucumbers will also work, but you will want to slice them in half lengthwise first and scoop out the seeds with a spoon before slicing them.
• Carrot - Julienned carrots add a nice crunchy texture and natural sweetness to the salad.
• Glass noodles- Glass noodles (a.k.a. cellophane noodles, bean thread noodles, or harusame) are transparent noodles made from starch. They have a nice, slick texture and provide volume for this salad. Boiled shirataki noodles are a low-calorie alternative that can be substituted.
• Black sesame seeds - Toasted black sesame seeds add visual contrast to the salad and a nutty flavor and poppy texture. You can also use toasted white sesame seeds, but they won't have the same color contrast.
• Scallions - Chopped scallions give the Kani Salad a mild onion flavor that compliments the savory crab sticks. I also like keeping a little of it on the side to sprinkle on top as a garnish.
• Mayonnaise - Although any mayonnaise will work in a pinch, I highly recommend using a Japanese mayo such as Kewpie mayonnaise. It has a taste that's more tart and umami-rich than American mayo, making it well suited for this salad dressing.
• Lemon - Adding lemon zest and lemon juice balances out the creaminess of the mayonnaise, keeping the salad dressing from becoming too heavy. The lemon zest also gives the Kani Salad a fresh taste that smoothes over any fishiness from the crab sticks. If you don't have a lemon, you could use other tangy citrus, such as limes, and rice vinegar will work in a pinch.

How to Make Kani Salad

You first want to toss the sliced cucumber and julienned carrots with the salt to help draw out their excess water. This keeps the salad from getting soggy when you combine it with the dressing while giving the veggies a nice crunchy texture. Let these sweat while you prepare the other kani salad ingredients. Once the vegetables have become limp, you can speed things up by massaging them with your hand until the cucumbers have turned translucent. Gather the veggies with both hands and squeeze as much water out of them as possible.

Then, you want to rehydrate and cook the glass noodles by soaking them in a medium bowl of boiling water. How long it takes depends on how thick your noodles are, but mine took about 7 minutes until they were tender. Once they're cooked, you can drain and rinse them with cold water. Be sure to squeeze out any excess water with your hands before adding them to the Kani Salad.

For the imitation crab sticks, you want to shred them into thin strips by hand. This takes a bit of time, but the fastest way I've found to do this is to roll the sticks between your hands, applying moderate pressure. This causes the sticks to fall apart, and you can shred them the rest of the way with your fingers.

Add the shredded crab sticks, squeezed vegetables, cooked glass noodles, black sesame seeds, scallions, and mayonnaise to a bowl. Using a microplane, zest half a lemon over the salad, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze some of the juice over the salad. How much lemon juice you add is a matter of personal preference, but I usually add about two teaspoons.

Toss the dressing ingredients together with the kani and veggies to distribute evenly. I like to serve my kani salad on a bed of lettuce leaves garnished with extra chopped scallions.

Variations on Kani Salad

There's a lot of room to improvise in this crabstick salad recipe, and you can substitute other crunchy vegetables such as julienned daikon radish or corn kernels. I also like to make a Spicy Kani Salad by adding a hot sauce such as sriracha or sambal oelek to the dressing. Freshly cracked black pepper or chili pepper flakes are other ways to spice things up, and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil is an easy way to give this a nutty flavor. You can also add pineapple or mango for a little extra sweetness or some fish roe such as tobiko for a nice poppy texture.

Serve this With

Kani salad's rich, creamy crunch makes it a fun sidekick to all kinds of Japanese dishes. I'll often serve it with crispy chicken karaage or sticky honey teriyaki chicken-there's something about the combo of juicy meat and cool, savory salad that just works. It's also great with chicken nanban, since the dressing plays off the tartar sauce in a really satisfying way. For sushi nights, it adds a refreshing crunch between bites of shrimp tempura rolls, California rolls, or spicy tuna rolls. If you want a more casual street food vibe, try it with yakisoba or salmon onigiri to round out the meal.

📖 Recipe

Kani Salad

By: Marc Matsumoto 4.41 from 15 votes Print Pin Prep Time 15 minutes mins Total Time 15 minutes mins Yield 4 side portions

Equipment

2 Medium Glass Bowl1 Large Glass Bowl1 microplane1 Strainer

Units

Grams + US CupsUS Standard

Ingredients 1x2x3x

• 100 grams cucumbers (1 small cucumber, thinly sliced)
• 80 grams carrots (julienned)
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• 20 grams glass noodles
• 140 grams crab sticks
• 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
• 10 grams scallions (1 scallion, chopped)
• ¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• lemon zest

Instructions

Step PhotosNo Photos Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Put the sliced 100 grams cucumbers and 80 grams carrots in a bowl and toss them with the ¼ teaspoons salt. Set these aside to sweat.
• Break the 20 grams glass noodles into 3-inch long pieces and add them to a heat-safe bowl. Pour boiling water over them until the noodles are completely covered. Let these cook and rehydrate for 7 minutes.
• Shred the 140 grams crab sticks by rolling them between your hands and then pulling the strands of crab stick apart.
• When the glass noodles are rehydrated, drain and rinse them with cold water. Squeeze out any excess water with your hands, and add them to the shredded crab sticks.
• Once the cucumbers and carrots start to limp, massage them with your hand to coax out more water. Then, gather the vegetables up with your hands and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Add these to the bowl with the other ingredients.
• To dress the Kani Salad, add the 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds, 10 grams scallions, and ¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise to the bowl, and then use a microplane to grate lemon zest from half the lemon into the salad. Next, cut the lemon in half and squeeze 2 teaspoons lemon juice into the salad.
• Toss the ingredients together and serve your Kani Salad on a bed of lettuce.

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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 166kcalCarbohydrates • 14gProtein • 3gFat • 11gSaturated Fat • 2gPolyunsaturated Fat • 6gMonounsaturated Fat • 3gTrans Fat • 0.03gCholesterol • 10mgSodium • 446mgPotassium • 115mgFiber • 1gSugar • 3gVitamin A • 3.393IUVitamin C • 3mgCalcium • 24mgIron • 0.4mg

FAQ

What is Kani Salad?

Kani salad is a Japanese crab stick salad made of imitation crab and vegetables such as carrots and cucumbers. It's a popular side dish at sushi restaurants outside of Japan and a popular home-cooked dish within Japan, but it's not something you'll find on the menu at restaurants there. 

Where can I get Kani Salad?

Kani salad is often featured on menus at Japanese restaurants in the US. However, it's easy to make at home, so try this kani salad recipe the next time you have a craving.

What is kani roll made of?

Kanikama, or imitation crab meat, is made of ground white fish like pollock with fKanikama/lavorings, stabilizers, and food coloring. This is then extruded to create the stringy texture of crab meat before it's cooked. It was first invented in Japan in the 1970's, but has since become popular worldwide, and it's often used in California Rolls.

Can I use real crab meat?

Yes, real crab meat will work fine. If it's been frozen once, you'll want to lightly squeeze it to get rid of any excess water, so it doesn't make the salad soggy.

How to store Kani Salad?

This kani salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The fresh lemon juice in the sauce may dull the color of the cucumbers.

Is Kani Salad an authentic Japanese dish?

Various salads, made using imitation crab sticks and mayonnaise, have existed in Japan since kanikama was invented there. However, these are modern home-cooked dishes and are rarely found in restaurants in Japan. One notable exception is at low-cost kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurants, which sometimes serve a mixture of shredded crab sticks and mayonnaise in gunkan maki.

How do you pronounce Kani Salad?

The Japanese name for Kani Salad is kanikama sarada, and it's pronounced as follows (read the italicized parts).ka like copyni like kneeka like copyma like mallsa like socksra like the "ra" sound does not exist in the English language, and the best way to make it is to say the word "romp" with the tip of your tongue at the front of your mouth. da like dot