In 1981, the Australian Women’s Weekly ran an article about the “new nibbling craze”. The craze was for crab sticks and fish sticks which, according to the Weekly, had become one of the most popular take-away food items. The article gave recipes for cooking the sticks rolled up in slices of chicken breast, deep fried in batter or wrapped in bacon and grilled.
The same year, The Canberra Times, in its survey of the markets, wrote, “Proving popular are crab sticks which, at $9.80 a kilogram, can be eaten crumbed, fried, mornayed or straight out of the package. Try serving it as a cocktail on a bed of shredded lettuce mixed with cream, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, horseradish, salt, pepper and lemon juice, garnished with lemon slices and chopped parsley.”
Crab sticks generally contain no crab. They are made from a sludge of white fish (originally Alaskan pollock, whiting and hake) mixed with starch, egg whites, sugar, salt, and flavorings to mimic the taste and texture of real crab. Called surimi, the mixture has origins that stretch back to 13th century Japan, where the paste was used to preserve excess fish catch. In 1974, a Japanese company, Sugiyo, patented a process to turn the paste into imitation crab flesh. The following year, another company, Osaki Suisan moulded the paste into stick form and patented imitation crab sticks.
Although the product originated in Japan, it is now mostly made in other Asian and South-East Asian countries. Most of the crab sticks available in Australia are imported in frozen form from China, Thailand, India and Vietnam.
As the Women’s Weekly article indicates, it didn’t take long for crab sticks to make it into Australian fish and chip shops and restaurants. Spero’s deli in Canberra was certainly dishing them up, along with Chiko rolls and fried scallops by 1982. In 1981, a first course of beer-battered crab sticks was included in the Saturday night special at Zorba’s Restaurant and Tavern, also in Canberra. And they were featured in the Fisherman’s Basket at South Australia’s Noarlunga Hotel by 1985.
These days, while crab sticks are still a standard item at fish and chip shops, you’re unlikely to find them on restaurant menus. Unless it’s a sushi place, where the artificial crab is still commonly used. GoodFish Australia warns that you may not know what you’re eating since Surimi production occasionally uses products from non-fish animals, such as squid, chickens or goats, to create a firmer texture.