Hooked on crab imitation

FRIEND went crabbing, and shared his
catch, which gesture is surely the supreme
sacrifice on that particular altar. Fresh crab

meat, and especially the legs,

is the ultimaté in

seafood, becoming, in its scarcity, as ultimate as

caviar, -or truffles.

lt scarcely needs gilding of
any sort, a little dipping-pot
of melted butter, perhaps, or
Hollandaise.

Gone forever, those huge

. crab-leg cocktails the Georgia

dining-room used to offer,
the luxurious ‘‘Louis’s’’
thick sandwiches bulging
with tender crab-meat.

But the Japanese have
recognized the peril, and,
demonstrating their will-
ingness to make the most of
their environment, fake the
taste and texture of crab-
meat. They use pollock, a
bottom fish belonging to the
cod family, not marketed
here, though available, and
transform it into those ‘‘crab
sticks’’ you see in fish shops
and on counters in
delicatessens.

The fish is skinned, boned
and processed in such a
fashion that the resulting
meat is a very good imitation
of crab — they flavor it with
crab essence and paint it crab
color, and as the sticks are
extruded they are individual-
ly wrapped in film.

The ‘‘Ocean Delight’’
storefront factory on Powell
Street, a branch of the
original plant in Japan,
specializes in this product,
plus the ‘“‘tempura_ cakes’’
that are usually available
alongside the ‘‘crab sticks’’
Both are made on an

we
.

the kitchen
ranger

) by J Eleanor |
Godley

ee
assembly-line basis, fresh
daily, and delivered to many
shops in the Lower Main-
land. Refrigerated, they will
keep for a good week, but
sales are brisk, and often
delivery must be made two or
three times a day.

Their pollock comes from
Japan, as the local variety is a
greyish color, a bit unap-
petizing, and lacks sticking
power -— the mashed and
pounded flesh will stay
together as long as it is

frozen, but then will crumble
apart.

The tempura cakes come
with vegetables,
they’re labelled ‘‘potato tem-
pura’’, sometimes they con-
tain shrimp, or squid, or
gobo, which is burdock root.
They’re always very tasty,
whether heated or not, and
with a little soy sauce make a
great lunch or neat picnic.
When I first saw them in the
stores I thought, ‘‘Hmmm ...
bit expensive. Why not make
them myself?’’ So I did.

My Japanese cookery book
turned up a recipe called Mix-
ed Deep Fried Pancakes

’ which I thought would do it.

Like this: you first make
some tempura batter by
combining
| egg yolk with
2 cups of cold water and
Y% tspn. of baking soda
and sift into it
1% cups of flour
Blend and set aside.
Now mix together
Y% cup of shredded carrot
Y% cup of shredded gobo
2 Tospns. fresh ginger,
grated
6 oz. of fresh shrimp or
scallops, chopped
Y% cup of green peas, fresh
or frozen
Add 1 cup of the batter to
this mixture, and blend in 1/4
cup of flour. Heat some
vegetable oil in a skillet while
you make three-inch patties.
Slip them into the hot oil,
and turn when golden brown
on the bottom. Remove from
the oil when both sides are
well-colored, and drain on
paper towel.

Going Out of
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sometimes.

Cli - Sunday, July 15, 1984 - North Shore News

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