What exactly is imitation crab meat?

What is it and why is it used in any dish? Is it preferable to the real stuff only when you are being cost conscious?

it's people

It's generic white-fleshed fish meat that's been ground up and pressed into cylindrical shapes.

>>why is it used in any dish?
Same reason why people make ground/minced beef, or sausages. Not every piece of meat on a fish is a fillet, so the scraps are ground up and made into something useful rather than throwing it away.

>>Is it preferable to the real stuff only when you are being cost conscious?
Yes. Also if you have a shellfish allergy, or you're lazy and don't feel like cleaning your own crabs.

I use it in won tons. Works well.

I used to not understand why sometimes crab was excellent and other times thick and gross. Turns out mom would buy krab most of the time, I was only 8, I didn't know they made fake shit
Don't waste your money unless you literally cannot taste a difference. They're both expensive

The pink swirl shit you see in nip ramen is made of this stuff.
It's pretty disgusting.

Salty minced fish. do not eat that.

It's surimi, a type of steamed fish paste that has been around since at least the 14th century.

The only things I've ever use imitation crab for is to make filling for sushi and crab salad. I honestly like the taste though I know it's not very nutritious

It's fish sausage with a red stripe painted on it to reassure flyovers.

It's good in light sweet or herbal soups, in salads as a cold sausage, on pizza, or as croquette filling with a cream sauce.
It's bad if you expect it to bear any closer resemblance to crab claw than "seafood with red bits".

>Also if you have a shellfish allergy
That's probably not a good idea since it still contains small amounts of real crab and possibly other shellfish even though it's mostly fish.

I love seafood but Im not into eating bugs, imitation is the closest I'll go to eating crab because I know its just sheets of mashed fish pressed and rolled into shape.

Quoted on accident, please spare my rectum

I need about half a ton of this, can someone link me with a supplier???

>please spare my rectum
No promises but I'll see what I can do

I actually sometimes just eat it as a snack. It's certainly not as good as the real thing, but it's tasty in its own way.

might be able to help

...

go to asian grocer

it's pollock

Its fine as a no-cook protein snack. The sticks are good dipped in melted butter. The lump/flake type I eat straight out of the package, and share some with my cat.
Its high protein, low calorie, low cost, high in sodium. Ive noticed quite a range in taste and texture between brands and batches, so taste several before making a final judgement. Fresh seems better than frozen, but even the "fresh" was probably frozen at some point in the process. And yes, this is a highly processed food. But who gives a shit, if you like it, enjoy it, if you're a snooty dick who says "I'm better than this", then dont fucking eat it.
At least they are quite clear in calling it IMITATION crab, they are not trying to trick you. Its pre-cooked, crab flavored fish. And its less than one-quarter of the price of real crab.

Does it make a good filling for onigiri?

I make a lot of onigiri (poorfag) and my favorite k-rab onigiri is mixing it with a spicy mayo and flying fish roe if I have some in the freezer. Other than eating it on salads, making California rolls for my mother when she visits, onigiri my only other use for the stuff.

It's what those cheap ass Vienna sausages are to real meat.

this

which i've had in fish fingers and they're alright 2bh

Pollack with crab flavoring

flour, pollock, flavoring, preservatives
It's cheaper and easier.
It doesn't taste like crab, lobster, or whatever other flavors they make.

It's literally fish sausage.
All the leftover meat from dressing an animal is turned into sausage.
Same thing except applied to fish.

>high protein
It has more carbs than protein.

you really don't want to know

It's fishcake, baka.

It's usually monkfish or some other low quality fish. Pollack is used pretty often as well.

don't eat that shit what is wrong with you

I can't stand this stuff personally. Texture is off and sure as hell doesn't taste like crab. Maybe that's what so off-putting about it. One of the only ingredients I'll gag on.

Animals dont have carbs dumb ass

>to reassure flyovers

Guess that's why the Japs use the same red dyed surimi, you fucking elitist wanker.

why don't the real crabs notice them and nip them to death?

user, getting nipped to death is what happens to the people who eat these

Every country has shit-tier food that only the trashy or incredibly poor eat. That is the role this stuff serves in Japanese cooking. Think of it like a cheap hot dog. Some basic idea.

No self-respecting Japanese restaurant would ever serve this. It would be like going to an American steakhouse and being served a storebrand hot dog. But it's the de-facto standard in flyover sushi places.

I make sushi rolls with it sometimes because I know that every time I do, I steal a piece of Jiro's life force

my favorite

>t. has never been to a real Japanese restaurant

Pollock
Read the ingredients maybe

I bought a bunch of these on sale. Two packs for 1€. In my 32 years of life I have never tried this shit, but I have to say, it's pretty great for how little it costs. It was a tad too sweet but for making sushi rolls and the like I think it's pretty good.

They are a staple of the movie theater business, and can be tasty if prepared right.

hotdog of the sea

They add flour, numbnuts.

It's people like your mum.

Oh, I understood what you meant.
What you didn't understand is that when I called you a fucking elitist wanker for using a term like 'flyover', I was saying that you come across like the kind of dickhead food snob who needs a serious attitude correction.

Hint: 'flyovers' grow the majority of food you eat, you arrogant cunt.

It's the fishy equivalent of pink slime. Someone could start a business and add some crustacean shell bits and call it "Authentic Imitation Crab Meat".

If you live on the west coast, imitation crab is a good thing to consider. A lot of crabs in the area have been unusually high in mercury levels for the past few years.

do not reccomend eating real crab from the pacific besides on occasion

why not? it just different types of ground up fish