Back in the 1950s, grocery store shelves in the Soviet Union were filled with cans of natural crab meat. Customers mistrustful of this product were lured with an advertising slogan: "Everyone should try how tasty and tender the crabs are!" Those times are long gone, and now buying a jar of crab meat is becoming a whole event - its cost is very high. But crab sticks appeared in stores - a surrogate substitute for this delicacy.
Initially, the Japanese began to make crab sticks, using the so-called surimi as a base - a dense mass without aroma and taste, made from soaked and then freeze-dried fillets of white sea fish. Usually cod, pollock and hake are used for its production. After processing the fish and cooking surimi, there is still a certain amount of vitamins, minerals and other valuable nutrients that are present in natural fish. The tasteless base (surimi) is further processed by adding colorants, flavors, thickeners, flavors, preservatives and a flavor enhancer. Recently, in addition to surimi, some manufacturers have begun to use soy or egg white and starch as a base for crab sticks, shrimp and artificial crab meat. Naturally, there is no benefit from these ingredients. When buying crab sticks, pay attention to their composition, which must be indicated on the package. In a quality product, the composition of surimi should be predominant - in the range of 25-45%. In this case, it is the minced fish that is indicated in the first place in the list of ingredients. The characteristic coloration of the crab sticks should mimic the natural product. Therefore, be sure to pay attention that natural dyes are also used - carmine, paprika. The color should be accurate and applied only from the outside - the inside of the crab sticks should be white. Ice or frost should not be present in the packaging of frozen crab sticks, otherwise this may indicate a violation of storage conditions. Even if you manage to choose a quality product, there will not be much benefit from such crab sticks, but at least using them for making salads, you will be sure that they will not harm your health.
