What is King Crab Avocado Salad?
King crab avocado salad is an American-Japanese dish made served cold with a bed of mixed greens, topped or mixed with fresh creamy avocado, tender king crab meat with a sweet ocean flavor. It is served with a dressing such as spicy dressing of chili peppers, rice vinegar, wasabi, lime, juice, and sesame oil. The textures are soft with the fresh crunch of greens.
What does King Crab Avocado Salad Taste Like?
Sour is one of the five main tastes. It is tart and bright, sometimes with a mouth-puckering quality. Sour is a naturally occurring flavor found in many foods, including citrus, vinegar, various dairy products, and certain fruits. Sour is used to enhance a dish or drink and is used as both a main and complimentary flavor.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
The avocado grows on a tree and is extremely popular across many cuisines and cultures. It has an oval shape with a rounder bottom, and a bumpy, dark green and thick skin that is not consumed. The texture is soft and creamy when eaten. The flavor is mild, green and has a delicate flavor. Avocado is made into a dip and added to a vast variety of dishes.
King crab is a large crab that can grow to over three feet in leg span. King crab is known for its sweet flavor, which differs from east coast crabs. The legs have a slightly smoother appearance than other crabs. The meat is removed from the legs and claws and come out in soft lumps that have a stringy quality, yet is quite tender. Crab meat should always be cooked before consuming.
Mixed greens or mesclun are an assortment of small, baby field greens from different plants, including kale, spinach, chard and others. The leaves are green, tender and have flavors that are green, vegetal, and sometimes spicy or sour. Mixed greens are served raw as a salad or may be gently wilted with oil and seasonings.
Botanically the chili pepper is a fruit, in culinary terms it is a vegetable. There are a number of varieties of red chili peppers. Some common ones used for spice powders and seasonings include the piri piri, cayenne, and chile de árbol, among others. Each pepper is red and has a thin skin with a thin flesh and seeds inside the middle of the pepper. The shape varies, but is often thin and tapered. The heat level varies also, depending on the type of pepper. Some are mildly hot, while other red chilies are scorching and fiery. The pepper can be used fresh in many dishes, as well as dried or powdered.
Mirin is a condiment used in East Asian cuisine and is a type of rice wine with a higher sugar content and lower alcohol content. It is clear with a yellowy hue and a thin viscosity. This sweet rice wine is used as a seasoning in grains, meats and vegetables. The flavor is sweet and a little bit vinegary, with a hint of alcohol.
Rice vinegar is sometimes confused with rice wine vinegar and while both are made from fermented rice, each is different. Rice vinegar is made by fermenting the sugars in rice and then turning it into an acid. Rice vinegar is more delicate than other vinegars, such as white or red. The flavor of this pale yellow liquid is tangy, sweet and mild. It is used as a seasonings in some East Asian cuisines.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Wasabi sauce is a semi-thick sauce used in Japanese dishes. It is a light green sauce with cool spicy flavor that is felt more in the sinuses than on the tongue. A small amount is used as a condiment.
Lime juice comes from the citrus fruit of the lime tree. Limes are round and roughly the size of a small plum, but can vary. Limes have a firm texture with green rind. The pale green flesh of the lime is firm, pulpy and juicy, much like a lemon, but harder. The juice is squeezed from the flesh and is a pale green color with a sour and refreshing taste and is used in drinks and food items, including sauces.
Chives are an herb in the onion family and are comprised of skinny green and hollow stalks, about one foot tall. They grow in clusters and have a slight crunch, yet are tender. Their flavor is like a very delicate onion and somewhat green. Chives are at their most flavorful when used fresh, though can be used dried. When dried the are often chopped into thin rings and used to garnish a dish and add flavor.
Sesame oil is pressed and extracted from sesame seeds. Sesame is a tiny seed with an earthy and nutty flavor. The sesame ranges in neutral colors from white to black. Raw sesame oil is yellow. Roasted sesame oil is a light to medium shade of brown. The raw, or non-roasted oil has a milder taste than the roasted variety and is more multi-purpose, whereas the oil from roasted sesame seeds lends a deep, earthy flavor that pairs well in East Asian dishes and is used as a flavoring.
