Kani salad with mango and avocado, a yummy no cook recipe made with imitation crab and fruit, veggie combination topped with a spicy dressing. A delicious take out copycat dish easily made at home.
When chewing all the greens and beans turns boring here is a bright and colorful Summer salad you should try for a change.
Kani comes from the Japanese word 'kanikama/ surimi' meaning imitation crab, which is mostly seen in Japanese sushi, Here in the US it is used in California rolls . Imitation crab as the name suggests is a highly processed real crab substitute. It is made with ground pollock fish, starch and other additives that give the flavor and texture of crab meat but ironically doesn't contain crab. The shape comes from pressing the contents into sticks to look like crab legs. Orange or red coloring is added to give the final finish to resemble the crab leg meat.
Ingredients and substitutions :
- Imitation crab - Can be replaced with a healthier seafood option - Home cooked shrimp or salmon would taste equally good. Do heck out this recipe - Salmon and potato salad
- Mango - You can substitute it with pineapple or sweet corn
- Carrot and cucumber - Makes the salad healthy and adds body to the salad
- Mayonnaise : adds creaminess
- Sriracha, Soy sauce and lemon adds acidic flavor to the salad and helps the fruits from browning easily.
- Toasted sesame seeds - adds the nuttiness and bite to salad
Few points to keep in mind :
- The cucumber will make the salad watery so slice and leave it out on a paper towel for some time before adding to the salad.
- Add the fruits just before serving so they won't loose their shape and become soggy sitting in the salad.
To make the salad ahead of time :
- Mix half the dressing with crab and refrigerate early. Keep the veggies sliced, refrigerated and ready to go into the salad with a paper towel under it to absorb all the excess liquids. Cut the fruits and add just before serving.
Storing the leftover salad:
- I won't recommend saving leftovers because the mango turns mushy and avocado as u know turns black from oxidization.
- Fresh salad tastes best. Leaving crab out and then refrigerating it again is not a good idea.
Other popular crustacean recipes on the blog are :
- Asparagus and crab omelette
- Crab, Peas and fettuccine
- Lobster Mac and cheese
- Lobster spinach bake (Our Thanksgiving staple dish at home)
Kani Salad with mango and avocado
Ingredients
- 6 sticks Imitation crab small
- 1 Ripe mango
- 1 Avocado
- 2 Carrot
- 2 Cucumber Persian or any seedless variety
- 1 tsp Sesame seed Toasted
Dressing
- 1 tbsp Mayonaise
- 1-2 tsp Sriracha
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce Low sodium
- 1/2 of 1 Lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the carrot and cucumber(remove seeds) into thin long strips. Tear apart the crab into thin strips with clean hands. Peel the mango and thinly slice it. Slice the avocado too.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss in the carrot first so it softens a little bit. Then the the crab and finally the cucumber when almost time to serve. Arrange the fruits neatly on the sides of the serving plate and gently place the prepared salad on top. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Hope you would give this recipe a try.
Meena
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