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A Kani Salad is a Japanese style salad made with crab and julienned thinly sliced ingredients with a creamy spicy mayonnaise dressing. It’s very popular in American Japanese restaurants.Here I’ve made my take on a Kani Salad which is so easy to make and is so refreshing! You only need 3 ingredients, being cucumber, imitation crab, and mango plus the dressing.

It can all be made within 15 minutes in prep time, which makes this a great last minute meal too!To describe the taste, it reminds me of a California sushi roll with similar flavours and ingredients, minus the rice. This makes it a low carb meal also.

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Ingredients to make this Kani Salad Recipe
How to make a Kani Salad
Tips to make this easy Spicy Kani Salad
FAQs
More Salad Recipes
Recipe
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Table of Contents

Ingredients to make this Kani Salad Recipe

Imitiation Crab Meat is the main ingredient in a Kani Salad. Also known as crab sticks or seafood sticks. Its made from Surimi which is a type of seafood.
Cucumbers I always use Persian or Lebanese cucumbers as they have a lot more flavour and are far less watery with tiny seeds.
Mango brings a beautful sweet freshness. Fresh mango is always best however when they aren’t in season, frozen mango also works great.
Kewpie Japanese Mayonnaise is the tradtional mayonnaise used. Its made from egg yolk instead of whole egg.
Soy Sauce is added for its saltiness and flavour. I always prefer to use salt reduced soy sauce. You can also use Tamari for a gluten free option
Rice Wine Vinegar is added for a little acidity. White wine vinegar can also be used
Sriracha sauce is added to make the Japanese Kani Salad spicy. you can add more or less than my recipe depending on how spicy you like it
Avocado is added on top for its creaminess
Sesame Seeds I like to add toasted mix colour sesame seeds for garinsh
Panko crumbs are added on top for a little crunch to the dish and provides texture

How to make a Kani Salad

Tips to make this easy Spicy Kani Salad

When slicing the ingredients for the salad, you want to try and slice them all in similar lengths and sizes. This is not only for the visual look but also for the perfect texture when eating.This way, you’ll have a bit of all flavours at the same time with every bite!
Always use Persian or Lebanese cucumbers as they have a lot more flavour and are far less watery with tiny seeds.
If you can’t find these cucumbers and only have large cucumbers, it’s best to scoop the seeds out and not add them to the salad. The seeds can made the salad watery, especially if the seeds are large
You can slice the crab sticks with a knife but I find they are easier to handle and turn out better when they are made by pulling strings off the sticks with your fingers
I’ve used frozen mango as fresh mangoes aren’t available during winter here in Australia. If you’re using frozen mango, I find it easier to slice the mango while they’re frozen. If they’re fully defrosted, they will be softer and hard to slice thin
Always dress the salad right before serving so that it stays nice and crunchy. The longer it sits in the dressing, it will slowly become softer and can go soggy
Add the sesame seeds and Panko crumbs right before serving. You want to make sure they keep that crunch