Chef Isabel
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Pincho de Txaka
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Pincho de txaka is Basque, especially Donostia: surimi and boiled egg chopped fine with mayonnaise, set high on bread, and held together by one plain rule: cut it small.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Quick Meal
Budget Friendly
Potluck
20 min
Active Time
10 min cook•40 min total
Yield12 pintxos
Pincho de txaka is Basque, the kind you see across Donostia bars when the counter is full and nobody is pretending lunch needs to be grand. Txaka means the crab-stick mixture here: surimi, boiled egg, mayonnaise, sometimes a little onion, mounded on bread and held with a toothpick if the bar is busy. It is not a neighbor's gilded seafood salad. It is cheap, cold, soft, and very useful.
The method that decides it is the chopping. Grate the surimi and egg fine, or chop them small enough that the mayonnaise can bind them without drowning them. Big pieces slide off the bread. Too much mayonnaise turns the pintxo slack. Taste before you salt the mix, because surimi already brings salt with it, and a heavy hand makes the whole thing taste tired.
If you are far from the Basque Country, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use refrigerated or frozen crab sticks, thawed and dried well. Real cooked crab is good food, of course, but it is not the everyday Donostia txaka; it tastes sweeter, costs more, and needs less mayonnaise. Follow the small cut, the dry bread, and the short rest in the cold. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Txaka belongs to the Basque pintxo bar, especially around Donostia-San Sebastián, where small composed bites sit on bread and are chosen from the counter with a drink. The word is used locally for the shredded crab-stick mixture that became common because surimi gave bars a steady, affordable seafood taste without the cost and spoilage of fresh crab. Like many pintxos, it is less a formal recipe than a house habit, but the Donostia version is recognized by its fine chop, creamy bind, and generous mound on a slice of bread.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
surimi sticks (palitos de cangrejo)
Quantity
250g
thawed if frozen, patted dry
large eggs
Quantity
3
mayonnaise
Quantity
80g, plus 1 tablespoon more if needed
sweet white onion or spring onion
Quantity
20g
very finely minced
vinagre de Jerez or white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lemon juice
Quantity
1 teaspoon
parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
fine salt
Quantity
to taste
baguette or barra de pan
Quantity
12 slices
about 1.5cm thick
small lettuce leaves (optional)
Quantity
12
small green olives (optional)
Quantity
12
toothpicks
Quantity
12
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| surimi sticks (palitos de cangrejo)thawed if frozen, patted dry | 250g |
| large eggs | 3 |
| mayonnaise | 80g, plus 1 tablespoon more if needed |
| sweet white onion or spring onionvery finely minced | 20g |
| vinagre de Jerez or white wine vinegar | 1 teaspoon |
| lemon juice | 1 teaspoon |
| parsley (optional)finely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| fine salt | to taste |
| baguette or barra de panabout 1.5cm thick | 12 slices |
| small lettuce leaves (optional) | 12 |
| small green olives (optional) | 12 |
| toothpicksfor serving | 12 |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •Box grater
- •Mixing bowl
- •Small offset spatula or spoon
- •12 toothpicks
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Put the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook 10 minutes, then cool them in cold water. Peel when cool enough to handle. A fully set yolk is what you want here; a soft yolk makes the txaka pasty instead of clean and creamy.
- 2
Grate the txaka
Pat the surimi dry, then grate it on the large holes of a box grater or shred it very finely with your fingers. Grate the boiled eggs the same way. This fine cut is the whole trick: the mayonnaise catches every strand, so the mound holds on the bread instead of falling apart.
- 3
Bind the mixture
Put the grated surimi and egg in a bowl with the minced onion, 80g mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon juice, and parsley if using. Fold gently until it binds. Taste before adding salt, because the surimi already has plenty. If it looks dry, add one more tablespoon of mayonnaise, no more at first.
- 4
Chill briefly
Cover and chill the txaka for 10 to 15 minutes. It should be cold and spoonable, not stiff. That short rest lets the onion soften and the mayonnaise settle into the egg and surimi. If it loosens in the bowl, fold it once and leave it alone.
- 5
Build the pintxos
Lay the bread slices on a tray. Add a small lettuce leaf if you like, then mound a generous spoonful of txaka on each slice. Crown with a green olive and hold it with a toothpick if the mound is tall. Serve cold or cool, the way it waits on a Donostia counter.
Use bread with a firm crumb. Very soft sandwich bread goes soggy under the mayonnaise and gives you trouble before the first bite.
Chef Tips
- •Buy refrigerated surimi if you can; it has a better texture than the very dry shelf-stable kind. If using frozen sticks, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and dry them well before grating.
- •Do not salt until the mixture is finished. Surimi, mayonnaise, and olives all bring salt, and this pintxo turns sharp quickly if you season by habit.
- •Real cooked crab can be used, but know what changes: the pintxo becomes sweeter, looser, and more expensive. Use 180g picked crab meat, drain it well, and start with 60g mayonnaise.
- •Make the txaka ahead, but build the bread at the last sensible moment. Bread under mayonnaise waits badly, and nobody needs a soggy pintxo.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil the eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them unpeeled in the refrigerator.
- •Make the txaka mixture up to 1 day ahead, covered and chilled. Stir once before using and taste again for salt and lemon.
- •Assemble the pintxos no more than 30 minutes before serving so the bread stays firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 65g)
Calories
140 calories
Total Fat
8 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
55 mg
Sodium
400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
5 g
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