Sam’s Club’s imitation snow crab leg has been popular on TikTok for a while now. Content creators can’t get enough of it, raving about its affordability, versatility, and impressive flavor for years. The trend shows no signs of slowing down, with more videos featuring the product uploaded to the app every day.
If you’re looking for plant-based recipes on TikTok, these videos may have caught your eye. After all, imitation crab means it isn’t actually crab, right? That’s correct, but we’re sorry to let you down; imitation crab products aren’t actually animal-free because they contain fish and even eggs.
Is imitation crab plant-based?
Like many imitation crab products, Sam’s Club’s Surimi Snow Leg Style is made with fish. Specifically, it contains Alaska pollock and Pacific whiting. The fish is mixed with ingredients like natural and artificial crab flavoring, modified tapioca starch, and egg white powder to create a product that tastes like crab, without actually being made from shellfish.
Imitation crab is far from new. It’s been around since the 1970s, when it was first developed by Japanese food manufacturers as a cheaper alternative to real crab. In Japan, it’s known as kanikama, and it’s incredibly popular. Fun fact: the original recipe was intended to replicate jellyfish, but most agreed it tasted more like crab, and thus, imitation crab was born.
You’ll often see it labeled as imitation crab, but it may also appear on packaging or menus as “krab.”
What about vegan imitation crab?
The good news is that if all these TikTok recipes have you wanting to join the imitation crab hype, you don’t have to miss out.
Based in New York’s Chinatown, Lily’s Vegan Pantry (formerly May Wah Vegetarian Market) ships nationwide and specializes in vegan meat and seafood alternatives. Alongside products like Vegan Red Spot Prawns, Vegan Scallops, and Vegan Teriyaki Chicken, you’ll also find Vegan Imitation Crab Steaks.
Unlike traditional imitation crab, Lily’s Vegan Pantry’s steaks are made with ingredients such as konjac powder, soy protein, wheat protein, and natural seasonings. According to the brand, they can be used in everything from crab stick soup to seafood salads and hot pot.
Ashley Hankins
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Beyond vegan imitation crab, a number of brands offer plant-based crab dishes spanning from crab cakes to crab salad and crab grounds. For more vegan crab and fish-less seafood offerings, check out our guide.
Prefer to cook vegan imitation crab from scratch? Check out this recipe from Veganhood. All you need to do is combine hearts of palm with vegan butter and seaweed. Yep, it’s that easy.
Alternatively, for more crab-free recipes, check out our guide here, which includes recipes for everything from crab-stuffed mushrooms to crab cakes and spicy tofu California crab rolls.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
