What should I make with fake Crab?

October 29, 2011 2:43 PM

Recipes for Krab with a K, also known as "fake crab" or "surimi." Preferably not sushi rolls.

Last week, surimi was on sale at our grocery store, buy one, get one free. So I bought two and then life got in the way. At the moment, I'm eating some straight out of a bowl, which is pretty fucking gross.

I have no interest in investing in a roll my own sushi type situation.

This one with jicama might be nice. But I'm definitely not in any place to be slicing up exoctic vegetables right now.

I'm currently very low energy and even lower motivation.
But in the future, when I've dug myself out of this hole, I might enjoy looking back and actually making a recipe with this stuff. Also, it's not in the archive, and the recent MeTa about questions you didn't need to ask makes me think maybe I can save someone from asking this one in the future. Maybe?

posted by bilabial to Food & Drink (24 answers total)

You could make "Seafood salad".

Chop the surimi up, dice your desired assortment of celery, fennel bulb, & onion; toss with mayonnaise, lemon juice, maybe some worcestershire sauce or soy sauce, and make sandwiches on some kind of soft white bread or hot dog roll.
posted by gauche at 2:52 PM on October 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

I just throw it into salad and use ranch dressing on it.
That is pretty yum for me.

Or: Cooked pasta, chilled green peas, surimi and a mayonnaise based dressing.
posted by SLC Mom at 3:05 PM on October 29, 2011

Crab rangoons: whip together cream cheese, krab, diced green onion (regular onion won't work well here), and lemon juice. Wrap in won-ton wrappers and fry them up.

With pasta: I find that tossing krab into an already-sauteed mix of leek, red pepper, garlic and bacon (you can omit the bacon if you'd like, but why would you?), then tossing in some linguine works pretty well. If you've got anchovies on hand, reduce a couple in the saute pan before tossing in your vegetables.

You could also wrap in bacon and bake, kind of like bacon-wrapped scallops
posted by GamblingBlues at 3:08 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

The only recipe my japanese cookbook has for fake crab is a salad with daikon and mayo, which is essentially "chop up kanikamaboko (surimi) daikon and daikon leaves, mix with mayo and a little salt and wasabi."

Other things found online (in Japanese) involve doing things like egg drop soup with it in, omelets, deep-fried things and various others.

I think sliced up it could probably make a reasonable component to a ramen/udon soup if you're up for making noodles! Udon isn't really that hard to make, in the grand scheme of things.
posted by that girl at 3:26 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Super lazy recipe: can of cream of mushroom soup with milk, if you have an egg crack one and mix, along with chopped surimi and shot of sherry and fresh grated nutmeg.
posted by jadepearl at 3:39 PM on October 29, 2011

I use fake crab all the time in my crustless quiche recipe. Cut or crumble maybe 1/2 pound worth onto the bottom of a deep-dish pie plate or quiche pan. Spread about 1 cup of Swiss cheese over the top. Sprinkle on some minced onion (maybe 1/4 cup worth) and a dash of cayenne pepper. Mix together 1 cup evaporated milk (evaporated skim is just fine) and 1 cup Eggbeaters or real eggs. Pour over the top. Bake 15 minutes at 425F; lower oven temperature to 300F and bake 30-35 minutes longer. Let it rest for about 5 minutes before cutting.
posted by DrGail at 3:58 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

In younger days I'd mix the stuff up with shredded mozzarella cheese and microwave it on top of a half-toasted sourdough English muffin, trying out a different herb or spice each time. I remember that sage didn't work, oregano was kinda nice, and a dash of cayenne was tasty.
posted by dws at 4:19 PM on October 29, 2011

I like to make crab cakes with fake crab. In fact I prefer it to using regular crab becuase the meat is dicey instead of stringy.
posted by bitteroldman at 4:36 PM on October 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

you can make a very low carb and fairly tasty salad with shredded surimi, thinly sliced granny smith apples, celery, and lemon juice. Shredded carrots would work if you don't hate them (I do.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 4:44 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Put it on a salad with dressing. It's pretty dire stuff and really only edible if you drown it in some kind of dressing.
posted by empath at 4:44 PM on October 29, 2011

There are usually a variety of thai-style curry mixes available in grocery stores. Add one of these mixes to canned coconut milk, cook, and serve with rice. We also usually like to add some things like carrots, bell peppers, cashews, etc.
posted by kavasa at 5:01 PM on October 29, 2011

I make a crab salad with green onions, chopped olives, and mayonnaise. It's pretty good with club crackers or ritz.
posted by yb2006shasta at 5:29 PM on October 29, 2011

As a very slight upgrade on your straight-out-of-the-bowl approach, just add lemon juice and cracked pepper. Then eat straight out of the bowl. (Or on toast).
posted by lollusc at 5:47 PM on October 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was into putting it in omelets for a while.
posted by box at 6:47 PM on October 29, 2011

Make this recipe only if you like mayonnaise:

Sheepshead Bay Casserole (This is a recipe from the 1960's, original called for real crab meat)

Cook about 1 cup fine egg noodles (measured before cooking). Manischewitz makes these...you can find them in kosher sections of grocery stores. Saute with a little butter 1/4 cup green pepper, 1/4 cup onion, and 1/2 cup celery. Then in a large bowl, combine 1 cup flaked surimi, the cooked noodles, the pepper/onion/celery mixture, and 1/2 cup mayonnaise. Put into a small casserole dish. Butter a few slices of white bread on both sides, cut into small cubes, and put on top. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
posted by belau at 7:55 PM on October 29, 2011

I like to make it into ceviche. Chop up some tomato, red pepper, cilantro, red onion and jalapeño pretty small (smaller for the onion and jalapeño). Put in some mango too if you have it. Mix in a bunch of lime juice (lemon will do) a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, maybe a little hot sauce of you like or you didn't have the jalapeño. Then tear up the krab and mix it in at the last minute. Eat it all with some avocado if you have some. Delicious, healthy, and totally forgiving on the quantities or skipping an ingredient or two.
posted by crabintheocean at 8:58 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's always battered and fried crab sticks.
posted by zamboni at 10:16 PM on October 29, 2011

super simple: surimi cocktail...just add cocktail sauce (best made fresh: hot horseradish+ketchup=done) and dip away!
posted by sexyrobot at 10:27 PM on October 29, 2011

Personally I like it browned in a little butter with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, and served with well-carmelized onions on some nice crusty bread. Little green salad on the side.
posted by penduluum at 6:20 AM on October 30, 2011

I use mine two ways.

Cold Salad: olive oil, lemon or lime juice, mango, krab, avocado, salt and pepper. Chop it up, put it in a bowl to chill for a bit, and it's easy and delicious. I've gotten creative with it - you can serve it on greens, you can add stuff (tomatoes and mandarin oranges have gone well), etc.

Warm dip: cream cheese, mayo, dijon mustard, krab, salt and pepper. Soften the cream cheese, chop the crab, mix and heat.
posted by sm1tten at 10:18 AM on October 30, 2011 [1 favorite]

I beg my mom to make this during family holidays and dood it is so easy and so good.

Mom's crab/egg pancake thing:

1. Shred the crab in a bowl
2. Add some chopped some green onions and/or minced jalepeno chillis, amount depends on taste
3. Crack some eggs in it. The consistency you want is that it coats the crab and then a bit more. You don't want the crab swimming in it. It's not an exact science though and it's hard to mess up.
4. Heat some oil in a pan and ladle about 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture and flatten it out. Again, the size is up to you.
5. After one side browns, flip it over.
6. Repeat for the whole mixture, I can usually fit about 3 of these pancake things in a pan.
7. Serve with soy sauce. Nom nom nom!!
posted by like_neon at 3:01 AM on October 31, 2011

Oh also, that krab stuff freezes really well so you can save it.
posted by like_neon at 3:03 AM on October 31, 2011

I add it to pasta and white sauce with some garlic, onion and froz peas. Just melt some butter with garlic and or onion, mix in equal parts flour and then stir milk in till you have a thick sauce. This is not a health food. I'm pretty sure the fake crab stick I have even has sugar in it. Yum!
posted by Gor-ella at 11:22 AM on October 31, 2011

I find that flavorful fishy or meaty ingredients that you don't know what to do with do really well when just cooked along with rice. Brown or white, doesn't matter. Start a batch of rice and a few minutes before it's done (since Krab is already fully cooked) add your desired amount of krab, chopped up into small chunks. Stir the rice well, recover, and let it finish cooking. The rice will absorb the flavor of the krab. You can even use this rice later on to make things like fried rice or a simple casserole (for example, adding a bit of plain tomato sauce, putting in a casserole dish, topping with a bit of cheese, and baking).
posted by Deathalicious at 7:19 AM on October 15, 2012