Everything about Surimi totally explained
Surimi (
Japanese:, lit. "ground meat", also called
kani) is a Japanese
loan word referring to a food product intended to mimic lobster, crab, and other shellfish meat. It is typically made from white-fleshed
fish, (such as
pollock or
hake), that has been pulverized to a paste and attains a rubbery texture when cooked. The term is also commonly applied to food products made from lean
meat in a similar process.
Surimi is a much-enjoyed food product in many Asian cultures and is available in many shapes, forms, and textures. The most common surimi product in the Western market is imitation or
artificial crab legs. Such a product is often sold as
sea legs and
krab in America, or
seafood sticks,
crab sticks and
fish sticks in the UK, or
seafood extender in Australia.
Production
Lean meat from fish or land animals is first separated or minced. The meat is then rinsed numerous times to eliminate undesirable odors. The result is beaten and pulverized to form a gelatinous paste. Depending on the desired texture and flavour of the
surimi product, the gelatinous paste is mixed with differing proportions of
additives such as
starch,
egg white,
salt,
vegetable oil,
humectants,
sorbitol,
sugar,
soy protein, and
seasonings. If the
surimi is to be packed and frozen, food-grade
cryoprotectants also are added while the meat paste is being mixed.
Under most circumstances, surimi is immediately processed, formed and cured into
surimi products at the time it's produced.
Fish surimi
The resulting paste, depending on the type of fish and whether it was rinsed in the production process, is typically tasteless and must be
flavored. According to the
USDA Food Nutrient Database 16-1, fish
surimi contains about 76%
water, 15%
protein, 6.85%
carbohydrate, 0.9%
fat, and 0.03%
cholesterol.
In
North America and
Europe,
surimi also alludes to fish-based products manufactured using this process. A generic term for fish-based
surimi in Japanese is "fish-puréed products" (魚肉練り製品
gyoniku neri seihin).
This is an incomplete list of fish used to make
surimi:
Meat surimi
Although less commonly seen in Japanese and Western markets, pork
surimi (肉漿) is a common product found in a wide array of Chinese foods. The process of making pork
surimi is similar to making fish surimi except that leaner cuts of meat are used and the rinsing process is omitted. Pork
surimi is made into
pork balls (Chinese:
gòng wán; ) which, when cooked, have a texture similar to
fish balls but are much firmer and denser. Pork
surimi is also mixed with flour and water to make a type of
dumpling wrapper called "yèn pí" (or ) that has the similar firm and bouncy texture of cooked
surimi.
Beef
surimi can also be shaped into ball form to make "
beef balls" . When beef
surimi is mixed with chopped beef tendons and formed into balls, "beef tendon balls" are produced. Both of these products are commonly used in Chinese
hot pot as well as served in
Vietnamese "
phở".
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.
Uses and products
Surimi is a useful ingredient for producing various kinds of processed
foods. Furthermore, it allows a manufacturer to imitate the texture and taste of a more expensive product such as
lobster tail using a relatively low-cost material.
Surimi is also an inexpensive source of protein.
In Asian cultures,
surimi is eaten as a food product in its own right and is seldom used to imitate other foods. In
Japan fish cakes (
Kamaboko) and fish sausages, as well as other extruded fish products are commonly sold as cured
surimi. In
Chinese cuisine, fish
surimi, often called "fish paste," is used directly as stuffing or made into
balls. In addition, balls made from lean beef (lit. "beef ball") and pork
surimi are often seen in Chinese cuisine. Fried, steamed, and boiled
surimi products are also commonly found in
Southeast Asian cuisine.
In the West,
surimi products are usually imitation
seafood products, such as
crab,
abalone,
shrimp and
scallop. However, several companies do produce
surimi sausages,
lunchmeats,
hams, and
burgers. Some examples 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. Surimi is also used to manufacture kosher imitation shrimp and crabmeat, using only kosher fish such as pollock.
List of surimi foods
Chikuwa
Crab stick
Fish ball
Hanpen
Yong tau foo
Kamaboko
Tsukune
Tsumire
History
The process for making surimi was developed in many areas of East Asia over 900 years ago. In Japan, it's used in the making of kamaboko, or cured surimi products. The industrialized surimi-making process was developed in 1960 by Nishitani Yōsuke of Japan's Hokkaidō Fisheries Experiment Institute to process the increased catch of fish, to revitalize Japan's fish industry, and to make use of what previously was considered "fodder fish".
Chemistry of surimi 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, hence they're not suitable for making surimi.
Certain kinds of fish, such as the Pacific whiting, can't 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Surimi'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://surimi.totallyexplained.com">Surimi Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
