Japanese Kani Salad (Japanese Crab Salad)

A quick and easy 10 minute Japanese kani salad recipe made with shredded crab sticks, cucumbers, and a creamy sesame mayonnaise dressing.

Table of Contents

• What is Kani Salad?
• Ingredients for Kani Salad
• Ingredients for Kani Salad Dressing
• How to Make Japanese Kani Salad
• How to Store Leftover Crab Salad
• How to Prepare Kani Salad Ahead of Time
• How to Serve Japanese Crab Salad
• Tips and FAQs
• Looking for More Japanese Recipes? Try These!
• Recipe Card

What is Kani Salad?

Kani (which translates to crab in Japanese) salad is a Japanese crab salad made with a mayonnaise-based dressing. It is also known as kanikama salad or surimi salad.

Although kani salad is a crab salad, it is actually made with imitation crab meat (kanikama) and not real crab meat but you definitely can use real crab meat if that is your preference.

This Japanese crab salad is one of my favorite ways to have an easy snack. It's easy and can be made in less than 10 minutes. It can easily be made into spicy kani salad by adding Sriracha to the creamy dressing.

Ingredients for Kani Salad

• Immitation crab sticks - I like to buy the frozen imitation crab that come in sticks. I find them easier to hand shred to long strips and they keep longer since they are already frozen. If you can't find it in stick form, you can buy it in chunks and roughly chop it up with a knife instead of hand shredding it.
• Cucumbers - This crab salad is very versatile, and you can use all sorts of vegetables in it (red peppers, avocado etc) but I find that cucumber brings out a refreshing flavor out of the salad and gives it a nice texture.
• Green Onions - Definitely don't skip out on green onions, it gives the salad another layer of flavor.
• Tobiko (Optional) - These are Japanese fish roe\eggs that you typically see on sushi. It gives the salad extra salty crunchy texture. You can omit this if you cannot find it.

Ingredients for Kani Salad Dressing

• Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise - For kani salad, I use Japanese mayonnaise. It has a more eggy flavor and more umami from the msg. If you cannot find it, you can use regular mayonnaise, the main difference between the two mayonnaise is not that big. Do not use Miracle Whip.
• Soy sauce - Soy sauce gives the salad a bit more umami flavor, and balances out the sweetness from the crab meat and honey from the dressing.
• Honey - I like to use honey or maple syrup to make the kani salad dressing because it's easier to mix into the dressing. You can use sugar as well but make sure to dissolve it in the soy sauce before adding in the mayonnaise.
• Toasted Sesame Seeds - Sesame seeds will add a lot of flavor to this salad, but only if it is toasted. If you have white sesame seeds, toast it in a dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes before using it. Make sure to keep moving the pan so they don't burn.
• Sriracha Hot Sauce - (Optional) I like to add this into the dressing to make it spicy.

How to Make Japanese Kani Salad

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes. Make sure you watch it carefully and keep moving the sesame seeds so it doesn't burn. Set it aside and let it cool

2. If your crab sticks come individually wrapped, remove the plastic wrap and hand shred the crab into thin slices. If you are using imitation crab chunks, use a knife and roughly chop them into big chunks. Place it into a large mixing bowl.

3. Finely slice the green onions and place them into the bowl with the crab.
4. (Optional) If you are using Japanese fish roe/eggs, add them into the bowl with the crab meat.
5. Finely slice the cucumber into matchsticks. If you are mixing it with the crab salad, put them in the bowl with the crab. If you are placing the crab salad on top of the cucumber, set aside the cucumber.

6. In a small bowl, mix all the kani salad dressing ingredients together and pour it into the bowl with the crab meat.

7. Mix everything together and serve!

How to Store Leftover Crab Salad

You can store this crab salad in the fridge for no more than 1-2 days if the cucumber is mixed in. Once the cucumber is mixed in, it will become a little waterlogged and you won't get that same creamy consistency.

How to Prepare Kani Salad Ahead of Time

One of the best parts of this salad is it is great to entertain with because it can be made ahead of time. That being said, there are a few things I do differently if I was to make this ahead of time to ensure that the salad doesn't get soggy.

• Everything can be made ahead of time and mixed together except the kani dressing and the cucumber.
• Pre-mix the sauce in a seperate bowl but mix it into the salad right before you serve it.
• Pre-slice the cucumber ahead of time but do not mix it in until you are ready to serve it - this will prevent the kani salad from being waterlogged.

How to Serve Japanese Crab Salad

This crab salad is awesome for its versatility. You can serve it a lot of different ways and it will be delicious. Here are a few ways I like to have it.

• You can serve this with a side of crackers and serve this to guests.
• You can have it over a bed of short grain rice and avocado slices like a poke bowl - it tastes just like sushi!
• You can make maki sushi rolls or temaki sushi (hand rolls) with it.
• Have it as a side dish with along with a main dish.

Tips and FAQs

• Can I use real crab meat? You most definitely can! I find Alaskan king crab works best if you are using real crab meat.
• I don't have Kewpie mayo, can I use regular mayo? Yes you definitely can substitute regular mayonnaise. Japanese mayonnaise has a slightly eggier and umami flavor but the difference is small enough that using a direct substitution of regular mayonnaise won't hurt the taste. Make sure you are using mayonnaise and not Miracle Whip.
• Do I need to cook kani? Kanikama (imitation crab meat) is already cooked and can be used as-is. If it is frozen, defrost it in the fridge a few hours ahead until it is soft and pliable.
• What does kani taste like? Kanikama (imitation crab meat) is sweet with a bit of savoriness and lots of umami flavor, which comes from the msg.

Looking for More Japanese Recipes? Try These!

• Sesame Crusted Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
• Chicken Teriyaki Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon Noodles)
• Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku) with Black Garlic
• Homemade Furikake Recipe
• Zaru Soba (Cold Soba Noodles)
• Maple Curry Yaki Udon

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