Photo/Illutration A fish paste product replicating the flavor of the seasonal favorite horsehair crab (Provided by Kanetetsu Delica Foods Inc.)

KOBE--Just in time for New Year's holiday tables, a seafood maker here will release a product re-creating the flavor of the seasonal favorite horsehair crab with fish paste.

The imitation seafood delicacy will hit the shelves between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, Kanetetsu Delica Foods Inc. announced on Oct. 5.

The product will be from the company’s flagship line under which fish cakes re-create the taste, touch and appearance of other pricey seafood.

The reproductions of snow crabs and king crabs, which were available late last year, will also go on sale at the same time.

“The latest one boasts the highest quality among our corporation’s past crab-flavored fish cakes,” said a representative of Kanetetsu Delica Foods. “We will help consumers to decorate tables with the three prominent crab-based articles at the year-end and New Year holidays.”

The imitation horsehair crab replicates the species’ chunky flesh by shaping fish paste into short thick slices.

Larger amounts of crabs' extract and oil than conventional items are used. Yellowish paste replicating “kani miso” crab innards will come with the imitation horsehair crab.

Orders are being taken on the company's official e-commerce site prior to its release. A 198-gram package will carry a price tag of 1,080 yen ($7.20), including tax. Only 1,000 sets will be available, and they are scheduled for delivery in late December.

Under the seafood reproduction brand, the first product featuring a crab was marketed in March 2014. Others resembling scallops, fried oysters, eel, salmon roe and squid have subsequentially arrived on the market.

The line’s sales have topped a total of 60 million packages, making it Kanetetsu Delica Foods’ core product group.