4 ms·

Amusingly, crab sticks are usually made of pulverised white fish and starch. They don't actually contain any crab.

Fnoord 6y ago
Surimi also contains chicken egg protein. I guess for emulsifying. Surimi might contain crab, but then its a very small % (the legal requirement). I bought real (river)crabs at Ikea. Needs a lot of time to get rid of the ice, and its a bit messy and tricky to eat (take your time!), but I found it delicious. The flavor is unlike anything I ever had, and the texture is pristine and delicate. After a while, it even becomes fun to dismantle them. Though the very first one got my glasses full with... whatever it was. As for fish sticks, I know the brand we got contains Atlantic cod. Its a very cheap fish, and quite frankly it tastes disgusting (had it out of oven while cooking on budget). However the sticks add structure (crisp/bite and salt I suppose) to the otherwise bland fish which remind me of rotten fish, so they make it edible. Our daughter (2) loves them, and they can easily be prepared in an airfryer or oven. They might be a bit salty though. Normal Atlantic cod I'd rather just feed my cats. Even with seasoning I still find it barely edible, and I just got this rule with fish (and shellfish) if it smells or tastes something remotely resembling rotten, I don't eat it. Cause as kid I ate enough of that already. Plus I generally eat my foods seasoned, with herbs and spices. Dill, for example, goes great with a lot of fish.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  Pretty much any fish will be decent as a fillet. Pretty much nothing you get in a fish stick or processed product is going to be any good because if it were it would have been made into something higher margin. Fish sticks are the hot dogs of the ocean.
- OJFord 6y ago
  Yeah, I wouldn't buy something sold as 'fish' fingers personally. If I wanted them, you can (at least in the UK) also get 'cod fingers', 'haddock fingers', perhaps others (e.g. hake) rather than minced fish surprise.
- nemacol 6y ago
  Are the crabs you purchased from Ikea crab legs or more like crayfish (aka crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs, or yabbies.)?
  - Fnoord 6y ago
    Red crayfish, they were quite small. Not a gigantic lobster (would love to try that too). My ex-girlfriend had hermit crabs as pets. These were smaller, and they sometimes attacked or ate each other (when vulnerable without shell due to losing skin), which put the cycle of life in perspective. Still felt a bit odd.
  - pvaldes 6y ago
    Ikea wouldn't sell the crab sticks. Cooked crayfishes are part of the swedish culture. They even have a summer party (kräftskiva) based on eating those. My father caught a lot also when he was young.
OJFord 6y ago
Huh I didn't know that, or that they were Japanese ('surimi') - I've only ever had or seen them in France. (Not that I've been to Japan, but I'm English, so not having seen them here I just associated them as being a French supermarket snack.)
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > I didn't know that, or that they were Japanese ('surimi') - I've only ever had or seen them in France. Could be a coincidence. Naomi is a very traditional Hebrew girls' name, and also a Japanese girls' name.

Surimi also contains chicken egg protein. I guess for emulsifying. Surimi might contain crab, but then its a very small % (the legal requirement). I bought real (river)crabs at Ikea. Needs a lot of time to get rid of the ice, and its a bit messy and tricky to eat (take your time!), but I found it delicious. The flavor is unlike anything I ever had, and the texture is pristine and delicate. After a while, it even becomes fun to dismantle them. Though the very first one got my glasses full with... whatever it was. As for fish sticks, I know the brand we got contains Atlantic cod. Its a very cheap fish, and quite frankly it tastes disgusting (had it out of oven while cooking on budget). However the sticks add structure (crisp/bite and salt I suppose) to the otherwise bland fish which remind me of rotten fish, so they make it edible. Our daughter (2) loves them, and they can easily be prepared in an airfryer or oven. They might be a bit salty though. Normal Atlantic cod I'd rather just feed my cats. Even with seasoning I still find it barely edible, and I just got this rule with fish (and shellfish) if it smells or tastes something remotely resembling rotten, I don't eat it. Cause as kid I ate enough of that already. Plus I generally eat my foods seasoned, with herbs and spices. Dill, for example, goes great with a lot of fish.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
Pretty much any fish will be decent as a fillet. Pretty much nothing you get in a fish stick or processed product is going to be any good because if it were it would have been made into something higher margin. Fish sticks are the hot dogs of the ocean.
OJFord 6y ago
Yeah, I wouldn't buy something sold as 'fish' fingers personally. If I wanted them, you can (at least in the UK) also get 'cod fingers', 'haddock fingers', perhaps others (e.g. hake) rather than minced fish surprise.
nemacol 6y ago
Are the crabs you purchased from Ikea crab legs or more like crayfish (aka crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs, or yabbies.)?
- Fnoord 6y ago
  Red crayfish, they were quite small. Not a gigantic lobster (would love to try that too). My ex-girlfriend had hermit crabs as pets. These were smaller, and they sometimes attacked or ate each other (when vulnerable without shell due to losing skin), which put the cycle of life in perspective. Still felt a bit odd.
- pvaldes 6y ago
  Ikea wouldn't sell the crab sticks. Cooked crayfishes are part of the swedish culture. They even have a summer party (kräftskiva) based on eating those. My father caught a lot also when he was young.

OJFord 6y ago

Huh I didn't know that, or that they were Japanese ('surimi') - I've only ever had or seen them in France. (Not that I've been to Japan, but I'm English, so not having seen them here I just associated them as being a French supermarket snack.)

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> I didn't know that, or that they were Japanese ('surimi') - I've only ever had or seen them in France. Could be a coincidence. Naomi is a very traditional Hebrew girls' name, and also a Japanese girls' name.