Padre Island Shells

On the Menu Today~
Padre Island Shells
Recipe from:
Dona Grover, Rockwell, Texas
via Taste of Home, Pasta Cookbook

I have wanted to make this recipe,
ever since I saw it in a  Taste of Home Cookbook.
I think that was over 10 years ago,
so I thought it's about time to give it a try.

What is imitation crab meat, seafood sticks, krab sticks or crab sticks anyway?
All of the above are a form of kamaboka,
a processed seafood made of starch and
finely pulverized white fish, surimi, 
then shaped to resemble the leg of a snow crab or
Japanese spider crab.

Sugiyo Co., Ltd. of Japan was the first to produce and
patented imitation crab meat in 1973,
as Kanikama, this was the flake type.
In 1974, Osaki Suisan Co., Ltd. of Japan,
first produced and patented imitation crab sticks.

In 1976,
The Berelson Company, of San Francisco,
working with Sugiyo, introduced them internationally.
Internationally they are marketed under the names;
Krab Sticks, Ocean Sticks, Sea Legs, and Imitation Crab.
Legal restrictions now prevent them from being marketed as 'crab sticks' in many places,
as they usually don't have crab meat.
North Pacific Alaska Pollock is commonly the main ingredient.

Imitation crab is something that you either like or you don't.
Personally, I like imitation crab, the flaked kind.
I use it in seafood pasta salad and now in this recipe.
My hubby is a huge fan of imitation crab and
usually eats it dipped into jarred shrimp sauce....
a good way to eat imitation crab but
not a very 'fancy' way to eat imitation crab.

So when I saw this recipe using imitation crab,
(you can also make this recipe using 'real' crab)
I thought it would be the perfect recipe to try.

Get the recipe here!