Baked Crabsticks (Imitation Crab)

Posted by Kejia:

Chinese New Year is arriving and I am so so excited!!! What's not to love about the crazy amount of food, the sinful treats, the meet-ups with family and friends, the decorations put up all over the house, and the red packet money!? Most of all, my favorite thing about CNY is definitely the food. Pineapple tarts, almond biscuits, butter cookies, pork jerky, love letter rolls, fried seaweed.... The list can go on forever. 

In recent years, a new CNY goodie has emerged. I am referring to the amazing fried crabsticks. Crabsticks refer to imitation crabmeat, made with fish and flour and then processed heavily. (It's true, we all know it, but we just can't help ourselves!!!) They are usually fried (to save on time and cost), but the fried crabsticks I've tried are always so oily and leave a greasy feeling in the mouth as an aftertaste. Thus, I've decided to bake some crabsticks instead! They taste great, ever-so-salty, crunchy and light, but are drier than the fried crabsticks in the market. They're still as addictive as fried crabsticks, so no worries about that!

Points to note:

• Baking these crabsticks are extremely time-consuming, because they take so long in the oven! Also because of the large amount of crabsticks to be baked. 
• Even though I say "large amount" of crabsticks... When you bake them, they magically shrink and you'd yield an even smaller amount of baked crabsticks. Thus to produce one normal cookie container of baked crabsticks you'll need about 5 packets of crabsticks (already $10.50 from the grocer). Fried crabsticks cost around $10-15 in the market!

Even though this was fun to make, I'd suggest you buy fried crabsticks instead to save on time! However, if you have the time and want to make your CNY experience a tad healthier (or you have an extremely large oven), do try this recipe! :-) 

Ingredients:

5 packets of crabsticks 

Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.

2. Unwrap the crabsticks from their individual plastic wrapping. 

3. Using a scissors, cut each crabstick into one-thirds. Unroll them and cut to your desired size. 

4. Place on a pan lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with pepper. (Or any other desired seasoning. Don't put salt though, as they are already salty on their own.)

5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. They are done when they are golden brown. 

I couldn't find any recipes for baked crabsticks, and now I know why. I took a really long time to finish making them! Alternatively, you could also deep fry the crabsticks, or shallow fry them in a pan. :-) It would be much faster!!! Do buy/make this CNY snack because it is really delicious and is one of my favorite! 

Love,

Kejia