Crab salad, as well as rolls or sandwiches with crabs, has little to do with these arthropods. For many years, instead of the crabs in the preparation of most of the salads and appetizers using inexpensive imitation - crab sticks. The specific aroma, delicate flavor, and, importantly, low price have made this product very popular around the world.

A short history

Crab sticks were invented in 1973 in Japan. Enterprising businessmen who invented a cheap substitute for refined crab meat, it has paid off: after a couple of decades, invented their sticks became known throughout the world.

From the beginning, cake mix does not contain a single gram of these crab meat: such additives would make the product more expensive, and to producers was to create a cheap and accessible to all semi-finished product. However, it appears that consumers are much more important than pleasing flavor than natural products. Appetizing white and red wedges with the smell of crabs and a pleasant salty taste began to be used as a standalone snack or as a raw material for a variety of dishes.

Surimi

The basis is surimi crab sticks - a traditional Japanese product. The first mentions of surimi relate to 1100, when the Japanese fishermen began to prepare minced fish fillets. First, the fish were ground and then washed several times with water resulting minced and finally squeezed. As it turns out plastic white mass with a barely perceptible aroma and delicate flavor.

For the manufacture of surimi used white fish fillet with a dense meat - hake, cod, whiting, horse mackerel. Also, the fish can be added seafood - shrimp and squid. Ideally, use fresh fish, but often producers of surimi prepared from minced fish and frozen raw materials. This can not but affect the taste, though visually and consistency of surimi fresh and frozen fish can be distinguished only by a specialist.

Own taste of surimi there is little, so the taste of the product is improved by adding spices or flavorings surimi. So popular are manufactured in Japan, fish balls, imitation crabmeat, artificial shrimp and some other specialties.

This surimi - a completely natural and healthy product Eight useful products, which you thought That can serve as a source of valuable protein. The only problem is that the content of the fish in crab sticks - less than half. Often, the proportion of the fish in the composition of this intermediate product is only 25%.

Composition of chopsticks

Crab sticks are not only from the traditional surimi. The composition of this semi-finished product also includes vegetable oil, starch, egg and soy proteins, salt, sugar, flavor enhancers, flavorings and stabilizers. A delicious red or pink-orange hue crab sticks give ordinary food coloring - natural surimi white.

Single recipe crab sticks there today manufacturers can experiment with the proportions to your liking, as long as the protein content in the finished product was not less than 5 percent. However, often the fish protein is replaced by a conventional egg whites or soy. As a result, some crab sticks almost entirely of starch, thickeners, flavors and other artificial additives. To semi-finished product has at least some taste to it generously added MSG.

More expensive varieties of crab sticks are usually less intimidating (and a bit more natural) composition. But the high price is not always a guarantee of excellent quality, so you first need to read the information on the packaging.

According to nutritionists

Thus, crab sticks have little in common not only with crabs, and fish. Recommendations include this product in the children's menu Children's menu: the basics of good nutrition baby   crab sticks, or use as a source of complete protein can cause only bewilderment. Kids better not to give products with a suspicious structure, and adults should give preference to natural fish.

At the same time crab sticks still are more healthy snacks Low calorie snacks Than, say, a hamburger or potato chips. Damage to health, they will not do. The product contains a small (about 2 percent) of the amount of fat and 100 grams of the intermediate product is usually from 80 to 100 calories. Therefore, those who follow the figure can not give up snacking favorite delicacy: crab sticks do not contribute to weight gain.

Those who adhere to a diet with restriction of carbohydrates, should carefully study the information on the package crab sticks. Some species of the semi-finished product are high in starch and for fans of "protein" diets are not acceptable.

The selection and preparation

Cheapest crab sticks - frozen, are sold by weight. Check the composition and caloric content of such semi-finished products is usually impossible, so buying them is not recommended. In addition, freeze crab sticks become drier, coarser.

It is better to give preference to stick with the most chilled natural composition. The presence in the list of ingredients, sodium glutamate, a large amount of starch, soy or artificial colors should be alerted. Sticks should be smooth, elastic, colored, neatly, with a delicate scent of the sea.

Prepare this product can be different. Most often, crab sticks are used as a substitute crab meat in salads and appetizers. Inventive housewives are stuffed with sticks, using them as filler rolls "California", put in a filling for pancakes and pies. There are even recipes for main dishes from this semi-finished product. For example, you can chop the crab sticks, mixed with egg, to form small patties and fry them in oil. Dietary meal or useful is difficult to call, but with the objective to diversify the daily diet, it certainly can handle it.

Maria Bykov

Related Articles

Salad "Mimosa": extraordinary tenderness

Salad "Caesar": a dish with a secret

Herring under a fur coat: Christmas Salad

Salad of squid - a storehouse of nutrients