The Felix Salad

In Russia we've got all sorts of these little "Korean" delis, which are about as Korean as General Tso's chicken is Chinese.  Regardless, they serve pretty damn tasty little salads and whatnot, all loaded with MSG and salt, I'm sure.  Regardless, one of the best salads they have is a simple seaweed salad with garlic and chili.  The problem is it costs too damn much, and Zhanna and I would always polish off the whole batch in one sitting.

I figured I could just buy some random ingredients, throw them together and get the same result for half the price.  And if you think that imitation crab is only for white trash that lives in trailer parks, then you're partly wrong: it's also for white trash that lives in crumbling Soviet apartment blocks.  Though this salad is a variation of theirs, and doesn't taste quite as spicy, you can always add more chili pepper.  It always brings me back to my early days with my wife, when we lived in a broken down suburb of Samara, where teenagers and other miscreants joyrode their cars all night. 

The name of the salad comes from my wife's cat, Felix.  Though he wouldn't deign to each such inexquisite food, my wife loves this salad nearly as much as she loves Felix.   

Ingredients:
2 cups seaweed*

1 1/2 cup chopped imitation crab meat

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon seasame seeds, dry roasted to a golden brown

a pinch of chili pepper

Mix all together and gorge!

*You can buy prepared seaweed here, which usually contains a pinch of sugar, salt, and a dash of vinegar.  I recommend you prepare your seaweed that way if you buy it plain.  Soy sauce can be used as well to season it, which will give it a more Korean flavour.