Japanese Food Tips

Kanikama is called imitation crab or surimi in English. Kanikama, which stands for kanikamaboko (boiled fish paste of crab), was invented in 1972 by a fish processing company in Ishikawa Prefecture (on the Sea of Japan side of the central region of the main island in Japan). Kani means crab, and kamaboko (fish paste) is made by adding seasonings to raw white fish meat, then kneading and molding it, then steaming and baking. Kanikama reproduces the taste and texture of crab using raw white fish meat, just like kamaboko. Kanikama is mainly eaten in sushi, salad, or as is, and sold either in the popular stick form or as crab meat. It is a low calorie processed food, characterized by low fat and high quality fish protein. It is good for digestion and easily absorbed in the intestines. The annual consumption was 50,000 tons in Japan in 2015. In the same year, it was 500,000 tons in the world, so there may be more people who have eaten or seen kanikama than I thought. It seems that kanikama is well distributed overseas.