Japanese Kani Salad

Ingredients

Salad

• 100 g crab sticks
• 1 large carrot
• 1 medium cucumber
• 2 cups lettuce, cut lengthwise

Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• A pinch of salt and black pepper

Tempura crunch (panko can replace it)

• 1/4 cup corn flour (or plain flour)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 egg white at room temperature
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic seasoning
• 1/2 cup water, kept in the freezer for half an hour
• Oil for frying

Method

1. Peel the carrot with a vegetable peeler, then shave it into ribbons and cut into thin strips with a knife. Do the same with the cucumber. The crab sticks naturally shred into thin strips when cut lengthwise.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients and set aside.
3. Mix the tempura batter and heat the oil (a helper is useful): one person keeps stirring the oil in circles while the other flicks batter from their fingers into the hot oil to form little drops that crisp up. Drain on kitchen paper.
4. To assemble: lettuce, then cucumber, then carrot, then crab, topped with the dressing and the tempura crunch.