imitation crab meat; crab sticks
Common processed seafood product made from surimi, often shaped and colored to resemble crab leg meat. Used in salads, sushi, and hot dishes.
I put imitation crab in the salad.
Crab sticks are handy for adding color to bento boxes.
Standard katakana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
Rare kanji form; 蒲 is an abbreviation of 蒲鉾 (かまぼこ).
Abbreviation of カニ (crab) + 蒲鉾 (かまぼこ, fish cake). The kanji 蟹蒲 is a direct representation of this combination, but the word is almost always written in kana.