Surimi
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Surimi (擂り身, lit. "ground meat" in Japanese) refers to a product made from white-fleshed fish or poultry.
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Definition
The lean fish fillets are minced and rinsed multiple times to form a gelatinous fish paste. The fish paste is then mixed with food-grade cryoprotectants and additives such as starch, egg white, salt, vegetable oil, sorbitol, sugar, soy protein and seasonings and then packed and frozen. Surimi is an inexpensive rich protein source suitable for the making of various kinds of processed foods.
In North America, surimi also means products produced from this process when fish is used, particularly artificial crab and lobster meat. Usually, the frozen surimi is thawed and them shaped with food coloring and additional flavorings added. The resulting product has the texture as if it was a whole natural product.
The official name of surimi products in Japanese is "fish-derived products" (魚肉練り製品).
History
The process was developed in Japan 900 years ago and is used in the making of kamaboko. Industrialized surimi-making process was developed in 1960 by Nishitani Yōsuke of Japan's Hokkaido Fisheries Experiment Institute to process the increased catch of fish and to revitalize Japan's fish industry.
Uses
Surimi is useful because it allows the manufacturer to make a lower quality protein, such as minced pollock from Alaska, imitate the texture and taste of a higher quality product such as lobster tail. The resulting surimi products, depending on the type of fish used in the process, are typically tasteless and must be flavored. According to the USDA Food Nutrient Database 16-1, surimi contains about 76% of water, 15% of protein, 0.9% of fat, 6.85% of carbohydrate and 0.03% of cholesterol.
Products
Surimi products are usually imitated seafood products, such as crab, abalone, shrimp and scallop, however several companies do produce surimi sausages, lunchmeats, hams, and burgers. A couple of example include: Salmolux salmon burgers, Seapack surimi ham, SeaPack surimi salami, and Seapack surimi rolls. A patent was issued for the process of making even higher quality proteins from fish such as in the making of imitation steak from surimi. In many Asian countries, surimi is also used to make high quality fish balls.
Curing
The curing of the fish paste is caused by the polymerization of myosin when heated. The species of fish is the most important factor that affects this curing process. Many pelagic fish with higher fat contents lack that kind of heat-curing myosin. So they are not suitable to make surimi.
Certain kinds of fish, such as the Pacific whiting, cannot form firm surimi. The surimi maker has to add egg white or potato starch into the fish paste to increase its strength. Before the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), it was industrial practice to add bovine blood plasma into the fish paste to help its curing or gel-forming. Today some manufacturers may use a transglutaminase to improve its texture.
Ingredients
This is an incomplete list of fish used to make surimi:
- Milkfish (Chanos chanos (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Chanos&speciesname=chanos))
- Swordfish (Xiphias gladius (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Xiphias&speciesname=gladius))
- Tilapia
- (Oreochromis mossambicus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Oreochromis&speciesname=mossambicus))
- (Oreochromis niloticus niloticus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Oreochromis&speciesname=niloticus%20niloticus))
- Big-head pennah croaker (Pennahia macrocephalus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Pennahia&speciesname=macrocephalus))
- Golden threadfin bream (Nemipterus virgatus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Nemipterus&speciesname=virgatus))
- Bigeyes (Priacanthus arenatus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Priacanthus&speciesname=arenatus))
- Pacific whiting (Merlangius merlangus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Merlangius&speciesname=merlangus))
- Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Theragra&speciesname=chalcogramma))
Turkey surimi
The surimi process is also used in the making of turkey products. It is employed in making products such as turkey burgers, turkey sausage, turkey pastrami, turkey franks, turkey loafs and turkey salami.
List of Surimi food
External links
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 16-1 (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR16-1/sr16-1.html)
- Pacific Marine Food Products Co.,Ltd. Nutrition Fact of Surimi (http://www.surimithailand.com/Nutrient.html)
- A surimi FAQ (http://www.surimithailand.com/Surumi.html)
- Food Reference Facts & Trivia: Surimi (http://www.foodreference.com/html/fsurimi.html)
- Thermally-induced interactions in fish muscle proteins (Why does surimi form a gel?) (http://www.dal.ca/~foodsci/surimi.html)
- The Making of Surimi (http://www.fishexp.pref.hokkaido.jp/exp/kushiro/kakou/surimi.htm) (illustrated, in Japanese)
- The Evolution of the Surimi-Making Process (1961/1970/current) (http://www.surimi.org/3hist.htm) (in Japanese)
- A History of Surimi's Development (http://www.zenkama.com/zenkama/gijutsu.html) (in Japanese)ja:魚肉練り製品