Crab sticks, krab sticks, imitation crab (meat), or seafood sticks (originally known as ''kanikama'' in Japan) are a type of seafood made of

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

and finely pulverized white fish (''

surimi is a paste made from fish or other meat. The term can also refer to a number of East Asian foods that use that paste as their primary ingredient. It is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and is often used to mimic the texture and ...

'') that has been shaped and cured to resemble the leg meat of

snow crab ''Chionoecetes'' is a genus of crabs that live in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The genus ''Chionoecetes'' currently contains seven distinct species. Other names for crabs in this genus include "queen crab" (in Canada) and " spider ...

Japanese spider crab The Japanese spider crab (''Macrocheira kaempferi'') is a species of marine crab that lives in the waters around Japan. It has the largest known leg-span of any arthropod. It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to gr ...

. It is a product that uses fish meat to imitate

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environ ...

meat.

History

of Japan first produced and patented imitation crab meat in 1974, as Kanikama. This was a flake type. In 1975, Osaki Suisan Co., Ltd., of Japan 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 meat. Most crab sticks today are made from

Alaska pollock The Alaska pollock or walleye pollock (''Gadus chalcogrammus'') is a marine fish species of the cod genus '' Gadus'' and family Gadidae. It is a semi-pelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific, with largest concentrations ...

(''Gadus chalcogrammus'') of the

North Pacific Ocean North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

. This main ingredient is often mixed with fillers such as wheat, and egg white (

albumen Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...

) or other binding ingredient, such as the enzyme

transglutaminase Transglutaminases are enzymes that in nature primarily catalyze the formation of an isopeptide bond between γ-carboxamide groups ( -(C=O)NH2 ) of glutamine residue side chains and the ε-amino groups ( -NH2 ) of lysine residue side ...

. Crab flavoring is added (natural or more commonly, artificial) and a layer of red food coloring is applied to the outside.

Uses

A common use of the product on the American West Coast is in the

California roll ) or California maki is an ''uramaki'' (inside out ''makizushi'' roll) containing cucumber, crab or imitation crab, and avocado. Sometimes crab salad is substituted for the crab stick, and often the outer layer of rice in an inside-out roll ('' ...

and other ''

makizushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include ...

'' in sushi restaurants.

History

Uses

See also

References

Further reading