Kani Salad (Japanese Style Crab Stick Salad w Mango)

Kani salad is a cold Japanese-style salad made with shredded imitation crab sticks (surimi), cucumber, mango, and carrot, all tossed in a creamy, slightly spicy dressing. It’s crunchy, tangy, a little sweet, and full of umami flavor. This recipe uses just one pack of surimi and comes together in about 15 minutes—perfect for a quick, last-minute meal.

“Kani” means crab in Japanese, so kani salad is simply crab salad. While you can use fresh crab, it’s usually made with crab sticks—imitation crab shaped to look like real crab meat.

This salad makes a great light lunch, appetizer, or side dish. I like to serve it chilled with sushi, poke bowls, or a bowl of plain rice. It’s also perfect as part of a bento box or as a refreshing side at a summer BBQ.

How to Make Kani Salad

Shred the crab sticks, cucumber, carrot, and mango into thin strips, then toss everything with a creamy dressing made from Kewpie mayo, soy sauce, lemon juice, and chili paste or sriracha. I like to chill it before serving to let the flavors blend. Don’t skip the garnishes—they make it extra delicious.

It’s creamy, a little sweet from the mango and crab sticks, crisp from the cucumber and carrot, and has a gentle kick from the chili sauce. The toasted sesame seeds and crunchy panko on top add even more texture. It’s a homemade Asian-inspired dish that feels both light and satisfying.

Continue below for the full recipe with ingredients and step-by-step instructions.

Ingredient Notes

A few notes about the ingredients before we get started.

• Surimi imitation crab sticks are made from pollock fish and have a similar taste and texture to real crab. I usually use them because they’re easy to find and work well in this recipe, but if you’d rather go with fresh crab meat for a more true-to-crab flavor, that works too.
• I like using Persian or Lebanese cucumbers because they’re more flavorful and have fewer seeds. If you can’t find those, any cucumber works—just scoop the seeds out. Big seeds can make the salad too watery.
• Fresh mango is always my first choice, but when it’s out of season, I use frozen mango instead—it works just as well.
• Japanese mayonnaise (kewpie) is made with just egg yolks instead of whole eggs. If you don’t have it, regular mayo works fine too—it’s pretty close in taste. You can also swap in Greek yogurt if you’re looking for a lighter option.
• I use Indonesian chili paste (sambal oelek) to add a bit of heat, but Sriracha works too. You can add more or less depending on how spicy you like things.