Surimi is a product made primarily from pollack,
which is turned into a jello or paste like substance used as the
main ingredient in imitation crab as well as other seafood
items.
During the time when prices were at their high some
processors lowered their product quality in an effort to keep sales
moving, what appeared on the market was a "water first" imitation
crab, meaning water was the highest volume ingredient. Unfortunately,
many buyers do not make the distinction between grades of surimi and
when buying strictly on price the sales usually fall because of poor
quality.
In spite of flat sales the future of surimi has
never looked better as processors and operators work towards more
creative ways of preparing and presenting the product. One
of the problems has been the inability of surimi to be deep fried, as it
breaks apart or unravels. This will help the product emerge form a
seafood salad ingredient to a center of the plate item.
The fact that surimi is pasteurized makes it a
fully cooked seafood item with literally no bacteria, extending the
shelf life to several months with very little safety hazards. A
creative chef could build an entire seafood section on the menu using
only surimi as the main ingredient
