For cooks who keep a pack or two of kanikama in the freezer regularly, this soup would be a considered a pantry dish.
For people who aren’t well acquainted with kanikama, know that although they may all look the same in the frozen section of the grocery, they aren’t made equal.
Inferior kanikama turns soggy when thawed and it’s hard to separate the sticks into shreds. It does take time to identify which brand is good and which is not, and you may need to experiment to find out which is the best among those available in your area.
But if you plan on making kanikama a regular ingredient in your home cooking, it will save you a lot of time (and money) later to know which brands to avoid.
Crab and corn egg drop soup
This soup is about color, texture and interplay of flavors. Some cooks take a short cut by simply slicing the kanikama into rings before adding to the broth. The thing is that small pieces of kanikama tend to get lost in the myriad of ingredients. I urge you to spend extra effort to shred each stick into strands to properly appreciate kanikama.
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken bone broth
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup sweet corn kernels (if using canned, drain well)
- ½ cup thinly sliced scallions separated into white/light green and dark green portions
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch
- 4 pieces kanikama (imitation crab sticks)
- 4 eggs beaten
Instructions
- Bring the broth to a boil in a sauce pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the corn and white/light green portion of the scallions. Simmer, covered, for five minutes (a few minutes longer is using fresh raw corn).
- Meanwhile, shred the kanikama into thin strips.
- Disperse the starch in two tablespoons water and pour into the soup. Stir until the broth is clear and slightly thickened. Cover and simmer for another five minutes.
- Stir in the kanikama and dark green portion of the scallion stalks. Allow to boil gently for half a minute. Turn off the heat.
- Pour the beaten eggs in a thin stream over the entire surface of the soup. Count 10 seconds before stirring gently.
- Taste your "crab" and corn egg drop soup one last time, and add more salt and pepper if needed, before serving.
