Blue Crab Meat

Think Twice before using Imitation Crab Meat!

Have you ever wondered why they don’t transform a steak to taste like tofu?  How about blue crabmeat to taste like “kanikama” or imitation crab meat? The answers are obvious. Why mess with perfection? Tenderness, juiciness, and the real meat taste in steak can’t receive replication. Yes, some attempts get the taste close with seasonings or fillers, but it’s easy to find the differences. Texture, like flakiness in lump meat, and a hint of butter to the salty-sweet during “Fat Crab Season” is quite hard to copy. In some cases, like imitation crab meat, they use tasteless ingredients so they can transform them into the “desired effect.” Pollack, the most popular fish to make this substitution, has little flavor, so it works well with fillers and colors to give that crab “feel” and flavor. Once again, it lacks the robustness of crab. Any true crab lover will note the difference with the first chew!

Little do many foodies know, surimi, the overall name for imitation crab meat, isn’t vegan at all, and may even contain gluten! In fact, it does contain less protein, Vitamin B12, and selenium than the real deal. Many dieticians warn that this alternative equates to a “seafood hotdog.” All kinds of unknown fish parts and fillers find a place in this surimi recipe. If you ever eaten imitation crab in abundance and felt “bloated,” you weren’t imagining this fat feeling. High levels of starch and carbohydrates mix with the fish to achieve a crab flavor. Possibly, you should just eat crab. Do a body good!