Refreshing Japanese Kani Salad
It was a part of our ‘Japanese Night Making Sushi Fun’, and I thought this salad was tasty and easy to put together. Be sure to use the best quality imitation crab and Japanese mayonnaise Kewpie. I got my crab frozen at the Asian supermarket. I mentioned before that Kewpie has a strong ‘eggy’ taste, but it’s worth trying. Have your own opinion.
This recipe is a rather basic idea of homemade Japanese salad, which could be spiced up with hot sauce and garnished with avocado or crunchy tempura.
Ingredients:
1 small cucumber thinly sliced
1 small carrot julienned
¼ tsp salt
1 bundle of glass noodles
⅓ lb crab sticks
2 tsp black sesame seeds
1 scallion chopped
¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise or less, adjust to your liking
2 tsp lemon juice
Lemon zest from half lemon
Preparation:
- In a bowl, stir together the cucumber, carrot and salt. Set aside.
- Cover the glass noodles with boiling water and soak for around 7-10 minutes.
- Shred the crab sticks. The proper technique is rolling it between your hands, and pulling the strands apart.
- Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the cucumber and carrot, then add to the bowl with kanikama (crab sticks). Drain well and rinse the noodles with cold water. Cut into shorter pieces using kitchen scissors. You could break them before cooking, whatever is easier.
- Add mayonnaise, black sesame seeds, scallions, lemon juice and lemon zest. Toss all ingredients together and serve over some fresh lettuce.
