Kani salad or crab stick salad is a delicious Japanese-style crab salad made with shredded crab stick and julienned cucumber and carrots. It's tossed in a creamy mayo-based dressing made with fresh lemon juice and Kewpie mayo, a popular Japanese mayonnaise.
Kani salad or crab stick salad is a refreshing, easy salad that's full of crunchy texture and seafood flavor! It's typically served in Japanese-American restaurants or sushi restaurants as an appetizer or starter salad.
It makes a fantastic summer salad and can be made ahead and served cold. Perfect for picnics, potlucks, or BBQs! Best of all, it's ready in under 10 minutes with just a handful of ingredients!
Ingredients
How to make kani salad
- Prep crab stick: Shred the crab stick into thin strands by pulling them apart by hand. Or for a faster method, use a fork and run it along the length of the crab stick while holding onto the other end.
- Vegetables: Next, julienne the English cucumber and carrots into thin strips.
- Dressing: Prepare the simple, 3-ingredient dressing by mixing Japanese mayo (Kewpie mayo) with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. For spicy kani salad, add a few teaspoons of sriracha sauce for some heat.
- Toss the shredded crab stick, carrots, and cucumbers with the dressing. Garnish with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!
This keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container. I don't recommend freezing this as the vegetables will get watery.
Variations
More recipes
Recipe
Kani Salad
☑ Ingredients
- 1 lb crab stick
- ½ large English cucumber - julienned
- 1 large carrot - julienned
Dressing
- ½ cup Japanese mayonnaise - or regular mayo
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice - or more
- salt & pepper - to taste
- 2 teaspoons sriracha - (optional) for spice
Instructions
- Dressing: In a small bowl, add the Japanese mayo and lemon juice then whisk them together. For spicy kani salad, add the sriracha. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.½ cup Japanese mayonnaise, 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons sriracha
- Shred crab stick: Shred the imitation crab stick by hand or use a fork by running it along the length of the crab stick while holding on to one end.1 lb crab stick
- Toss and serve: Add the shredded crab stick and julienned carrots and cucumber to a large bowl. Toss with as much or as little dressing as you'd like. Serve and enjoy!½ large English cucumber, 1 large carrot
✎ Recipe Notes
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Crab stick is an imitation crab that's made of white fish, usually pollack or cod, that's been pre-seasoned and formed to resemble crab meat. It does not contain any crab meat but has a sweet, subtle fish flavor and its delicate texture resembles crab meat.
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Susan
SO GOOD! This Kani Salad is going to be my new go-to. Really well-balanced flavors. I have made it a few times with both Japanese style mayo and regular and honestly, both were great! Thanks for sharing.
Carrie
Hi Jamie,
I just gave your kani salad a try and, wow - delicious!
This is something I have always ordered from my local takeaway, without realising the simplicity of the dish.
Love that dressing - it has such a great, vibrant flavour for something so simple!
I am off to explore your blog further and see what else I can find - thanks! 🙂
Annie
I love adding sriracha to this salad. It tastes just like the one at the Japanese restaurant. We stuff this in avocado. AMAZING!!