What's
New
Air-Fried Crab Sticks
Today is two days to Chinese New Year (Year of Goat – 19 Feb 2015). Later tonight, I will be making these air-fried crab sticks as gifts for my family. I like to make them so near to the first day of the lunar new year, so that they taste fresh during the start of the festival. The reason I can do so confidently, is because this is a truly simple recipe, requiring only 2 ingredients – crab sticks and cooking spray (oil).
See Also:
- Crispy Crab Sticks (Deep Frying) Recipe
- Honey Cornflakes Cups Recipe
- Chinese New Year Recipes
- Air Fryer Recipes
I used to deep fry them, and the result was great. But anything that requires deep-frying always give me a lot of resistance to start. This year, I experimented with using the air fryer to make crispy crab sticks. My verdict? They are crispy and less oily, plus (a BIG plus!) I don’t have to worry about oil splatters or air drying them for hours before cooking. The thin and flat layers of the crab sticks, just like vegetarian goose or “zai er”, meant that they are a great candidate for air frying. If you have an air fryer, you should try this out!
I also experimented with using the oven, but baking took too long with lackluster results so the oven option was not worth pursuing for me. Now I know how simple it is to make these addictive goodies, I can make them anytime of the year, not only during CNY. Check out the following photos for air frying crab sticks.
Step-by-Step Pictures
I’m using DoDo brand of crab sticks due to their nice flavour. There is no need to season them any further. Remove the plastic sheet for each crab stick. I use them straight from the packet.
Find the edge of each crab stick and start peeling to unroll.
You should be able to unroll it to a nice flat sheet.
Tear the crab stick sheet to 1 cm width.
Spread out the peeled crab sticks on large plates.
Spray with coating oil, then use tongs to coat them evenly in the oil.
This is the cooking spray I used. I bought it from Cold Storage (Singapore). It’s usually at the baking section.
Cook in air fryer according to the temperature and timing as stated in the recipe on the next page. This is what the crab sticks look like after 7 minutes. They require 3 more minutes to finish.
If you are tearing them to thin shreds instead (note: they may fall through the basket holes), halve the cooking time. When cooled, store crispy crab sticks in air-tight containers.
Wow I didn’t know you can actually use air fryer to do it! Thought they’ll stick to the top of the fryer. I was also apprehensive using the deep-frying method
Btw, may I know where you got the cooking spray? Can’t seem to find in the major supermarkets. Thanks & wishing you & family a prosperous lunar new year!
Hi Linda, I bought the spray from Cold Storage. Updated step-by-step with 2 more photos showing the cooking spray. Hope you find it! Goat Xi Fa Cai!
What a fun and delicious recipe! They look so crisp.
Seems that fried crab sticks is quite a popular snack these days (keep seeing them in the Internet). I have not even tried them before :O
Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family,
Wow, this is totally new to me…using an air fryer for these imitation crab sticks…these are great snacks.
Enjoy your week Wiffy :)
Nice and flavourful from the already seasoned crab sticks. Delicious snack!
Brilliant idea :) I haven’t got an air fryer, but I will try do it in the oven :)
Pingback: Air-Fried Crab Sticks | Simply Chinese Cuisine
When i try to do it, it takes a very long time to get crispy. Any reason why?
May I know what can I substitute in place of cooking spray?
You can try brushing the crab stick with oil (pastry brush). But I think cooking spray is faster, and use less oil.
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This post
posted at this site is really nice.