• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Meaty with a dash of veggies

  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter
  • Recipes
    • By meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / dinner
      • Snacks
    • By main ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By carb
      • Rice
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Kitchen
    • Kitchen how-tos
    • Cooking ingredients
    • Kitchen tools
  • Food Tales
    • Edible Garden
    • Dining
  • Newsletter

Kani salad

05.09.2012 (Updated: 11.21.2024) in Lunch / Dinner, Salads

Make kani salad with kanikama (imitation crab meat), cucumber, carrot, fresh ripe mangoes, lettuce, Japanese mayonnaise and a little sesame seed oil. It’s outstanding!

Kani salad

But you know what the curious part is? Authentic traditional Japanese kani salad is a far simpler dish. All-in kani salads, like mine, are more fusion than anything else. And “all-in” means there’s more than just kani in the salad.

Sliced and julienned carrot for kani salad

There’s carrot which we cut into matchsticks. To make the sticks really, really thin, we slice the carrot using a mandoline, stack the slices then cut them as thinly as we can manage.

Cucumber and mango for kani salad

Cucumber is also cut in the same way. Sliced on a mandoline then cut into matchsticks by hand. Ripe mango is cut open, the stone discarded, then each “cheek” is scored then scooped out shallowly to create thin strips that mimic the size and shape of the carrot and cucumber matchsticks.

Shredding crab sticks for kani salad

It’s kani salad so, of course, there’s kani. Kani is bought frozen so we thaw it first and peel off the plastic wrapper. When the crab stick is pressed, it is easier to pull it apart into shreds.

Kani salad with lettuce

Lettuce is optional but we like to add it to kani salad for textural contrast and for color.

All the ingredients are tossed together with Japanese mayo and a little sesame seed oil. And it’s ready to serve. As a side dish or as a snack.

Kani salad
Kani salad
Kani salad
Connie Veneracion
Use the best quality crab sticks, the freshest vegetables and ripe (never overripe) sweet mangoes for the best kani salad. And Japanese mayo is a must. Regular mayo just doesn't have the umami flavor of its Japanese sibling that sets it above the rest.
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 0 minutes mins
Total Time 10 minutes mins
Course Salad
Cuisine Asian Fusion
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 100 to 150 grams kani (imitation crab sticks)
  • 1 medium carrot peeled
  • 2 medium cucumbers or 1 large; peeled or unpeeled and seeds scooped out
  • 1 bunch lettuce varieties that can retain their shape like iceberg and romaine are recommended
  • 1 drizzle sesame seed oil
  • ¼ cup Japanese mayonnaise

Instructions
 

  • Remove the plastic film wrapper of the kani and discard.
  • Press each kani from tip to tip between your fingers. Pull apart to shred.
  • Thinly slice carrot, and julienne (cut into matchsticks).
  • Do the same with the cucumber
  • Cut the mango; discard the stone.
  • Slash diagonally, the slashes about a quarter inch apart, all the way but without cutting through the skin.
  • Using a spoon, scoop out shallowly to come up with thin strips.
  • Rinse the lettuce and dry in a salad spinner. Cut the leaves horizontally into half-inch slices.
  • Place the shredded kani, julienned carrot and cucumber, sliced mango and lettuce in a mixing bowl.
  • Drizzle in the sesame seed oil.
  • Toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Use your hands to toss to avoid bruising the ingredients.
  • Add the Japanese mayo. Toss the kani salad once more to moisten everything evenly.
Pin Send Print

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, the blog owner earns commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

In the spotlight

Tonkotsu ramen in Osaka

Guide to ramen broth: shio, shoyu, miso and tonkotsu

Spanish oxtail stew

Spanish oxtail stew

Broccoli salad with miso mayo dressing

Broccoli salad with miso mayo dressing

Japanese beef rice bowl (gyudon)

Japanese beef rice bowl (gyudon)

Shrimp spring rolls

Hungry for more?

Subscribe to the newsletter to get the latest posts in your inbox.

No spam. Read the privacy policy.

More Processed seafood, Seafood, Vegetables

Vegan noodles, broccolo and cabbage with teriyaki sauce

Vegan mazemen with broccoli and cabbage

Lifting a wedge of cheesy kale and salami frittata from the pan

Cheesy kale and salami frittata

10-minute beef and bok choy tips stir fry

10-minute beef and bok choy tips stir fry

Sigarilyas at tinapang bangus sa gata (winged beans and smoked milkfish in coconut milk) with mandarin oranges on the background

Sigarilyas at tinapang bangus sa gata (winged beans and smoked milkfish in coconut milk)

Sidebar

Connie Veneracion, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Home cook and writer by passion, photographer by necessity, and good food, coffee and wine lover forever. I write recipes, cooking tips and food stories. No AI is used in creating content for this blog.

More about me and Umami Days.

  • About
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • No AI
  • Contact

Created by a human for humans · Copyright © 2025 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved