Tasty & Addictive Crispy Surimi Chips
(Shallow fry & air fryer methods)

Photo of completed Tasty & Addictive Crispy Surimi Chips

This super tasty and highly addictive snack is easy to prepare. A strip of surimi or crab stick is unrolled and peeled into thick strips, which are then shallow-fried or air-fried into crisp chips. Whether you choose to shallow fry the snack on the stovetop or in an air fryer, this deliciously crispy and crunchy snack will never disappoint you. Once you start eating them, you won't be able to stop.

Ingredients:

  • Surimi / Crab Stick- Any brand and as many you plan to make
  • 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch/Cornflour
  • Cooking Oil (Your choice of cooking oil and enough for shallow frying)
  • Salt to taste

Instructions:

  1. Unroll and peel the crab sticks or surimi into thick strips. It's entirely up to you whether you want a thin or thick strip.
  2. Add or sieve in cornstarch or cornflour.
  3. Add salt and toss to coat or combine. Set aside.
  4. Heat up a pan or skillet with enough cooking oil to shallow fry the surimi strips on medium high heat.
  5. When the oil is ready, add half of the surimi strips and fry until lightly brown on both sides at medium heat. Do not overcrowd the pan/skillet and fry in batches.
  6. Remove the fried surimi strips to a plate lined with a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
  7. Continue the frying process with the remaining surimi strips.
  8. Freshly fried surimi is soft, but it will get crispy as it cools.
  9. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container

Option 2- Air Fryer Method:

  1. Repeat steps 1 to 3 above.
  2. Add 1/4-1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil of your choice and salt to the surimi strips.
  3. Toss to coat evenly and to combine. Set aside.
  4. Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 160°C (Phillips Viva Air Fryer setting).
  5. Add some surimi strips into the basket and air fry them for 18 minutes to 20 minutes at 160 degrees.
  6. After 10 minutes of air frying, use a tong to toss the surimi strips for even frying and cooking.
  7. Continue to air fry the surimi strips until they are slightly golden brown on both sides.
  8. Add extra minutes if necessary. The settings and temperature above are set for our Philips Viva Air Fryer model. Each air fryer works differently. The above temperature and time are for reference only. So, please adjust your setting or temperature accordingly.
  9. If you are happy with the color (slightly golden brown on both sides), remove them from the air fryer and place them on a plate to cool.
  10. Continue the process and air fry them in batches from step 5 to the end.
  11. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.
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Tips & Notes:

  1. Use as many crab sticks or surimi as you want to make. There’s no measurement set in place here. If you plan to make a huge batch at a time, just add extra cornstarch or cornflour if necessary. As long as the strips are lightly coated with cornstarch, it should be fine. Just adjust as you go and use your own judgment here.
  2. There’s no specific crab stick or surimi brand to use here. Feel free to get your favorite brand.
  3. You can easily get surimi mostly in Asian grocery stores.
  4. Use your choice of cooking oil. We used vegetable oil in the recipe.
  5. When you use a shallow frying method, make sure the cooking oil is well heated before adding the surimi. If not, you will end up with less crispy and soggy chips.
  6. Fry them over medium to medium-high heat. Try to avoid low heat, as the chips may absorb more oil when fried at low and slow heat. The longer the surimi stays in the pan, the more it absorbs oil.
  7. When you use the air-frying method, add extra minutes if necessary. The settings and temperature above are set for our Philips Viva Air Fryer model. Each air fryer works differently. The above temperature and time are for reference only. So, please adjust your setting or temperature accordingly.
  8. If you want to make them in an oven, adjust the temperature and time accordingly. We have not tried making this in an oven other than a stove and air fryer. Feel free to experiment if you prefer to make them in an oven. Based on our experience, we made them both on the stove and in the air fryer. The chips ended up being very delicious, crispy, less oily and never failed. Shallow frying is our number one favorite method, and our second favorite is the air frying method.The beginning of the video shows how crispy and crunchy the chips are. We highly recommend these two methods.
  9. Both methods: make them in batches and avoid overcrowding the pan or air fryer basket.
  10. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.
  11. Consume within a week to ensure freshness, but these chips never last a week for us because they’re so addictive and we can finish them in less than 3 days.
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