Method for manufacturing instant fried noodles and method for reducing the oil and fat content of instant fried noodles

Abstract

The challenge is to reduce the oil content of instant fried noodles. [Solution] By using a manufacturing method that includes a first frying step of frying and drying the noodle strands at 125-140°C for 40-90 seconds, and a second frying step of frying and drying at 150-160°C for 60-140 seconds, the oil content of instant fried noodles can be reduced. Preferably, the oil content of the instant fried noodles according to the present invention is 17% by weight or less.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing instant fried noodles and a method for reducing the oil content of instant fried noodles.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, instant noodles can be roughly classified into fried noodles and non-fried noodles according to the difference in the drying method. Fried noodles are noodles obtained by frying raw noodles or pre-gelatinized noodles with oil and then drying them, and non-fried noodles are noodles obtained by drying raw noodles or pre-gelatinized noodles by a process other than frying, such as hot air drying.

[0003] In recent years, due to the increasing health consciousness, the demand for low-fat foods has been increasing, and the demand for low-fat instant noodle products has also been increasing. In addition to the improvement of consumers' health awareness, the cost of oil has been rising, and the production of fried noodles with a low oil content is required.

[0004] Actually, there are many applications for fried noodles with a reduced oil content, and various manufacturing methods have been disclosed. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for manufacturing fried noodles in which dough prepared by a conventional method is formed into a noodle strip by a shaping roll, then rolled to a predetermined noodle thickness within 2 times, cut into the noodle strip by a cutting blade roll to form a raw noodle strand, steamed, and then fried and dried. Patent Document 2 discloses a method for manufacturing fried noodles in which dough prepared by a conventional method is formed into a noodle strip by extruding it under normal pressure, or small pieces are prepared by extruding it under normal pressure, then the small pieces are formed into a noodle strip by a shaping roll, the noodle strip is rolled to a predetermined noodle thickness within 3 times by a rolling roll, then the noodle strip is cut by a cutting blade roll to form a raw noodle strand, steamed, and then fried and dried.

[0005] Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a method for producing fried noodles, which includes the steps of producing fresh noodles using raw material flour containing 99 to 70 parts by mass of wheat flour and 1 to 30 parts by mass of other grain flours and / or wheat bran, and the steps of letting the produced fresh noodles stand for 0.5 hours or more at a temperature of 0 to 30°C to mature. However, neither document describes a method for reducing the oil content of fried noodles in the frying process. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-38269 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-38270 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-110818 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] The present invention aims to reduce the oil and fat content of instant fried noodles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The inventors of this invention diligently studied methods for reducing the oil content of instant fried noodles and, as a result, discovered that the oil content of instant fried noodles can be reduced by frying and drying the noodle strands at 125-140°C for 40-90 seconds, followed by frying and drying them at 150-160°C for 60-140 seconds. This led to the completion of the present invention.

[0009] In other words, the present invention is a method for producing instant fried noodles, characterized by comprising a first frying step of frying and drying the noodle strands at 125 to 140°C for 40 to 90 seconds, and a second frying step of frying and drying the noodles at 150 to 160°C for 60 to 140 seconds.

[0010] Furthermore, it is preferable that the oil and fat content of the instant fried noodles according to the present invention is 17% by weight or less.

[0011] Furthermore, the method for reducing the oil content of instant fried noodles according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a first frying step of frying and drying the noodle strands at 125 to 140°C for 40 to 90 seconds, and a second frying step of frying and drying at 150 to 160°C for 60 to 140 seconds. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide instant fried noodles with reduced oil and fat content. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] The present invention will be described in detail below, including examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0014] (1) Noodle ingredient blend The noodles according to the present invention can use the same ingredients as those used for ordinary fried noodles. Specifically, the raw materials include grain flours such as wheat flour, buckwheat flour, barley flour, rye flour, and rice flour, as well as various starches such as potato starch, tapioca starch, wheat starch, and corn starch. These grain flours and starches may be used individually or in combination. As the starch, raw starch, pregelatinized starch, and modified starches such as acetylated starch, etherified starch, and cross-linked starch may also be used.

[0015] Furthermore, in this invention, the following can be added to these raw material flours: salt, alkaline agents such as lye water, gluten, eggs, phosphates other than lye water, various thickeners, noodle texture improvers such as emulsifiers, pH adjusters, colorants, edible oils and fats, flavorings, and preservatives, which are commonly used in the production of fried noodles. These can be added as powders together with the raw material flour, or dissolved or suspended in the kneading water before being added.

[0016] (2) Kneading process The method for producing noodle dough according to the present invention may be carried out according to a conventional method. That is, kneading may be performed using a batch mixer, a flow jet mixer, a vacuum mixer, or the like so that the noodle raw materials including raw material powder and water are uniformly mixed.

[0017] (3) Process for making noodles Next, noodle strands are produced from the dough thus produced. As the production method, it may be carried out according to a conventional method. Examples include a method of extruding the dough using an extruder or the like to form noodle strands, a method of making the dough into a thick noodle strip using a roll, then making it into a noodle strip by compounding or the like, further rolling it a plurality of times using a roll to obtain a predetermined noodle strip thickness, and then cutting out the noodle strip using a cutting roll called a cutting blade or a kitchen knife to produce noodle strands. When producing noodle strands after producing a noodle strip, the noodle strip can be produced by a method other than making the dough into a thick noodle strip using a roll and then making it into a noodle strip by compounding or the like, such as a method of producing a noodle strip using an extruder, or a method of making small pieces produced by extruding the dough using an extruder into a noodle strip using a roll. Also, a plurality of noodle strips may be combined to form a noodle strip having a multilayer structure. When producing an extruded noodle strip or extruded noodle strands using an extruder or the like, it is preferably carried out under reduced pressure.

[0018] (4) Pregelatinization process In the present invention, the fresh noodle strands may be steamed and / or boiled as necessary to be gelatinized. Starch contained in wheat flour or the like is called raw starch and has a dense molecular structure and is poor in digestion, but if water is added and heated, the molecular structure collapses and it becomes gelatinized starch and is easier to digest. Since preferable steaming conditions vary depending on the type and thickness of the noodles, they may be appropriately adjusted according to the desired texture. As the steaming method, not only heating by boiling or saturated steam, but also heating by superheated steam can be used, and a water supply step such as a shower or immersion can also be combined. When using pre-gelatinized raw material powder (pre-gelatinized wheat flour or pre-gelatinized starch), it is not necessary to carry out steaming. In the present invention, from the viewpoint of enhancing the texture, it is preferable to provide a steaming step before the flavoring step to gelatinize the noodle strands.

[0019] (5) Seasoning process In the present invention, a flavoring liquid may be attached to the noodle strands. The flavoring process is not limited to those for the purpose of seasoning, and includes those for purposes other than seasoning such as improving looseness and coloring. The flavoring method is not particularly limited, but methods such as immersing the noodle strands in a flavoring liquid and / or spraying the flavoring liquid onto the noodle strands can be appropriately used.

[0020] (6) First frying process After cutting the noodle strands to an appropriate length, they are filled into a container called a fry retainer and fried to dryness. In the first frying step, it is preferable to fry so as to remove moisture to such an extent that the noodle strands do not expand strongly. Specifically, fry at 125 to 140 °C for 40 to 90 seconds. The frying conditions may be appropriately adjusted according to the moisture content in the noodle strands, the density of the noodle mass, the desired texture, etc., but it is more preferable to fry at 125 to 140 °C for 60 to 90 seconds, and most preferable to fry at 135 to 140 °C for 60 to 90 seconds. The longer the frying time within the range of 40 to 90 seconds, the lower the fat content and the better the texture tends to be. If the frying time is less than 40 seconds, the texture will be insufficient and raw, and if it is longer than 90 seconds, the total frying time including the first frying and the second frying will be long and the frying efficiency will be poor, which is not good.

[0021] (7) Second frying process In the second frying step, the noodle mass after the first frying is fried to dryness at 150 to 160 °C for 60 to 140 seconds. In the second frying step, it may be fried so that the moisture content in the fried noodle mass becomes 1 to 6% by weight. The frying conditions may be appropriately adjusted according to the moisture content in the noodle strands, the density of the noodle mass, the desired texture, etc., but it is more preferable to fry at 150 to 160 °C for 90 to 140 seconds, and most preferable to fry at 150 to 160 °C for 90 to 120 seconds. If the frying time is less than 60 seconds, the frying to dryness is insufficient, and when it is 60 seconds or more, the moisture content can be made 6% by weight or less.

[0022] (8) Others The dried fried noodles may be put into a cup together with soup and ingredients after cooling and used as instant cup noodles, or may be put into a bag together with soup and used as instant bag noodles.

Example

[0023] Examples of the present invention are described below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0024] (Test Example 1) 900g of wheat flour (semi-strong flour) and 100g of acetylated tapioca starch were mixed with 15g of salt and 2g of lye solution in 350ml of water to make a dough, and the mixture was kneaded in a mixer for 15 minutes to obtain noodle dough.

[0025] The prepared dough was combined to create a noodle sheet, which was then rolled down to 0.75 mm using a roller rolling mechanism. The sheet was then cut with a No. 20 square wave roller cutting blade to form noodle strands. The noodle strands were then steamed at 100°C for 2 minutes and cut into 30 cm lengths. To the cut noodle strands, 30 ml of a 60°C seasoning solution (20 g of salt dissolved in 1000 ml of water) was added per 100 g of noodle strands. 60 g of noodle strands were then placed in a frying retainer as one serving and fried in a two-stage frying process to produce fried noodles. A fryer with a partition inside that divides the fryer into two sections, each with a different temperature setting, was used. The two-stage frying process involved frying at 125°C for 40 seconds (first frying stage), followed by temporarily opening and closing the partition to move the frying retainer in the oil, and then frying at 160°C for 2 minutes and 20 seconds (second frying stage).

[0026] (Test examples 2-12) In Test Example 1, fried noodles were prepared in the same manner as in Test Example 1, except that the frying process was changed to the conditions described in Table 1 or Table 2.

[0027] The oil and fat content of the prepared fried noodles was measured. The results of each test are shown in Table 1 or Table 2.

[0028] [Table 1]

[0029] [Table 2]

[0030] The fried noodles in Test Example 12, which underwent a single-stage frying process, had a fat content of 18.6%, while the fried noodles in Test Example 11, where the first frying stage was conducted at a low temperature of 120°C, had a fat content of 18.5%. On the other hand, the fried noodles in Test Examples 1-10, which underwent a two-stage frying process involving frying at a low temperature of 125-140°C followed by frying at a high temperature of 150-160°C, all had a fat content of less than 17% by weight.

[0031] When comparing Test Examples 1-3, 4-6, and 8-10, where the temperature of the first frying process was the same, there was a tendency for the oil content to decrease as the duration of the first frying process increased. Furthermore, there was a tendency for the texture to be better as the temperature of the first frying process increased and the duration increased. In Test Examples 1 and 4, the fried noodles fried for 40 seconds lacked a cooked feel and had a slightly raw texture, making them barely acceptable as a product.

[0032] From the above, it is suggested that the oil content of fried noodles can be reduced by frying and drying the noodles at 125-140°C for 40-90 seconds, followed by frying and drying them again at 150-160°C for 60-140 seconds.

[0033] As described above, the present invention has the excellent effect of reducing the oil content of fried noodles by frying and drying the noodle strands at 125-140°C for 40-90 seconds, and then frying and drying them again at 150-160°C for 60-140 seconds.

Claims

1. A method for producing instant fried noodles, comprising: a first frying step of frying and drying the noodle strands at 125 to 140°C for 40 to 90 seconds; and a second frying step of frying and drying the noodles at 150 to 160°C for 60 to 140 seconds.

2. The method for producing instant fried noodles according to claim 1, wherein the oil content of the instant fried noodles is 17% by weight or less.

3. A method for reducing the oil content of instant fried noodles, characterized by comprising a first frying step of frying and drying the noodle strands at 125 to 140°C for 40 to 90 seconds, and a second frying step of frying and drying at 150 to 160°C for 60 to 140 seconds.

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