Seeing as I write about food, I tend to get a lot of emails and letters from my reader with all kinds of foodie questions. Some readers are looking for recipes; others want help with a cooking dilemma (or disaster) while others have questions that they just gotta get the answers to. For the most part my super mental database (the one that often can’t remember where I put my car keys) has the answers ready to disseminate. Every so often, however, it’s the simple questions that I think I should know the answers to that sends me to my food gurus, research books, the internet and other sources searching out the answers.
This week, a reader who has just started keeping kosher asked me if there was anything she could substitute for shrimp and/or crab, two food items she says she misses. My response was a qualified yes, there are some pretty good kosher certified FAKE crab and shrimp substitutes but you have to be VERY careful and make sure that what you’re buying has a top notch certification (think OU level certification) so that there isn’t a hint of doubt that what you’re eating is truly kosher.
Since I don’t typically get request for trief recipes I had to search some of my favorite cooking sources (professional chefs with their own food show/web site and or cookbooks). I have obviously modified the recipes to “kosherize” the ingredients and the instructions slightly for expediency but want to give all the credit the chefs for their original and delicious dishes. You can always utilize a mild white fish like tilapia for the mock crab or shrimp if you just don’t think that using the fake treif stuff is an option.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.