a recipe for crabstick salad!

it is a salad that we think is delicious and easy to make! it is suitable for any festive occasion (you know, the kind where people bring dishes and everyone tries everything) and it is also suitable for a low spoons meal that feels nicer than instant noodles. it requires more effort than instant noodles, but that's fine. we have liked this salad since we were very small, and it was invented by this body's mother.

like this:

it is not the prettiest salad, but neither is potato salad and stuff in a similar vein.

• 2 packs (500 grams) of cooked long grain rice. this can be instant rice, or you could cook the rice yourself.
• a pack (250g, 16 sticks) of imitation crab sticks. they might be called seafood sticks where you live.
• 3 eggs. you could do 2 eggs if you don't like eggs that much, or 4 eggs if you really like eggs.
• a small can (200g) of cooked sweetcorn. this is optional but it is nice to include if you want.
• as much mayonnaise as you think is appropriate.
• a very small amount of salt. this is also optional.

1. make sure your rice is cooked. if you are using instant rice, you don't really have to do anything.
2. cook the eggs. you want to hardboil them! the way to do this is to boil water, put the eggs in, wait for 10-12 minutes, and then take them out. you probably want the yolks to be fully cooked and crumbly, so we'd recommend doing 12 minutes. but we are not your boss, so use your judgement.
3. while the eggs are cooking, put all the rice in a big bowl.
4. while the eggs are cooking, start cutting the crabsticks into little pieces. we like to cut them in half lengthwise, and then chop the halves. you can decide how big the pieces should be if you do not like our method.
5. by now, the eggs are probably cooked. put the cooked eggs in a bowl of cold water to cool them down. the cold water bowl thing also helps to peel them!
6. finish chopping the crabsticks, and put them in the bowl with the rice.
7. if the eggs aren't cool enough to peel yet, wait a bit longer and/or change the cold water in the bowl that they are being kept in.
8. peel the eggs and cut them into little pieces that are roughly the same size as the crabstick pieces. put them in the bowl with the rice and crabstick pieces.
9. if you are adding sweetcorn, drain it of the corn water. then, put all the sweetcorn into the bowl with the other ingredients.
10. stir all the ingredients together in the big bowl until they are mixed well.
11. add as much mayonnaise as you think is necessary. we kind of just do a really big squeeze of it. if you think the salad requires salt, add a little bit of salt at this point too.
12. mix everything together again. if there isn't enough mayonnaise, add more and mix everything again.
13. you are now done! if you have timed everything correctly, the salad should be about room temperature. it's okay to eat it when it's slightly warm, but it tastes best at room temperature or below. make sure to keep it in the fridge.
14. eat some or offer it to someone who enjoys the combination of crabsticks, eggs, and rice!