“Imitation crab meat is the hot dog of the sea”
Imitation crab meat (such as surimi) has been called the “hot dog of the sea”—it may taste good, but what’s really in it? “Her product was imitation crab meat—a veritable hot dog of the sea” was printed in The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH) on August 9, 1982.
“Store-bought Crab meat is the hot dog of the sea was posted on Twitter by Steve L on September 20, 2009. Fake crab is the hot dog of the sea was posted on Twitter by Robin D. Laws on July 29, 2013.
“Imitation Crab Isn’t Crab At All. So What Exactly Is It?” was printed in HuffPost on January 14, 2015. “Surimi(fake crab meat) is the hot dog of the sea” was posted on Reddit—Showerthoughts on February 16, 2020.
Wikipedia: Surimi
Surimi (Japanese: 擂り身 / すり身, “ground meat”) refers to a paste made from fish or other meat. It can also refer to a number of East Asian foods that use that paste as their primary ingredient. It is available in many shapes, forms, and textures, and is often used to mimic the texture and color of the meat of lobster, crab, grilled Japanese eel and other shellfish.
The most common surimi product in the Western market is imitation crab meat. Such a product often is sold as krab, imitation crab and mock crab in the United States, and as seafood sticks, crab sticks, fish sticks, seafood highlighter or seafood extender in Commonwealth nations.
9 August 1982, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), “Pitch women: Demonstrators in stores chattily get you to try it” by Brian E. Albrecht, sec. D, pg. 1, col. 5:
Her product was imitation crab meat—a veritable hot dog of the sea, consisting of pre-cooked, shredded pollack fish laced with essence of crab meat, compressed in individually wrapped sticks and dusted with paprika to simulate a crab shell look.
Twitter
Steve L
@SteveLappn
Store-bought Crab meat is the hot dog of the sea.
12:34 AM · Sep 20, 2009·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Sarah Waldschmidt
@Socially_Sarah
@joshink and I decided that imitation crab…. is the hot dog of the sea…. just something to ponder
11:55 AM · Aug 17, 2010·TweetDeck
Twitter
Bobby Downs
@bobbddowns
Replying to @taaysaghy
“@taaysaghy: imitation crab meat is the hot dog of the sea.” It’s still really good though..🍣
8:29 PM · Jul 8, 2013·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Robin D. Laws
@RobinDLaws
Fake crab is the hot dog of the sea.
5:57 PM · Jul 29, 2013·Hootsuite
Twitter
eliza sj
@iamelizasj
Of all the names that exist to describe fake crab meat, I feel that “hot dog of the sea” fits best.
7:07 PM · Aug 26, 2013·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Karen Webb
@kwebbed
If tuna is the chicken of the sea, then imitation crab meat is the hot dog of the sea. And I love it shamelessly. #foodie
2:44 PM · Jul 16, 2014·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
HuffPost
@HuffPost
Imitation crab is basically the hot dog of the sea
Imitation Crab Isn’t Crab At All. So What Exactly Is It?
It’s basically the hot dog of the sea.
huffpost.com
2:10 PM · Jan 14, 2015·The Huffington Post
HuffPost
Imitation Crab Isn’t Crab At All. So What Exactly Is It?
It’s basically the hot dog of the sea.
By Kate Bratskeir
01/14/2015 09:34am EST | Updated December 6, 2017
(...)
The red and white “crab stick”—often referred to as imitation crab—does indeed come from the sea. In Japanese, crab stick is called “surimi,” which actually means “ground meat.” It’s kind of the ocean’s version of the hot dog, if you need an analogy.
Surimi is made of different kinds of fish, which are ground together into a paste. According to SF Gate, manufacturers add starch, artificial flavors, sodium and sometimes MSG.
Alaska Public Media
Making a better “hot dog of the sea”
By Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska’s Energy Desk - Juneau -April 23, 2018
When people think of Alaska seafood, salmon and halibut come to mind. But the state also produces a lesser-known fish product sought after all around the world: surimi, the base for imitation crab.
Now the guy who helped establish surimi in America — more than 30 years ago — is on a mission to improve how it’s made.
Mic
What is the imitation crab in sushi really made of? Here’s what’s actually in your roll
By Melissa Kravitz
Updated: Feb 10, 2020
(...)
American restaurants substitute imitation crab stick, also called kanikama, for actual crab meat. Made from cheap white fish, like pollock, this crab stick is created from grinding fish meat with binding agents, seasoning, fillers and sugar. The fish paste is then formed into sticks and tinted red on the side to look like a crab leg in the same vein as bacon-shaped, vegan facon. It’s pretty much the hot dog of the sea.
Reddit—Showerthoughts
Posted by u/Chezzabe February 16, 2020
Surimi(fake crab meat) is the hot dog of the sea