Coating materials for fried foods

Abstract

The present invention provides a fried food product having a desirable appearance and an improved coating texture, and a coating material for producing the same. The coating material for fried foods contains flaky starch lumps. The starch lumps contain pregelatinized starch, and the flaky starch lumps have a thickness of 100 μm to 1000 μm.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a coating material for fried foods. [Background technology]

[0002] Fried foods are usually produced by applying a coating material to the surface of various ingredients and frying them in oil. Common coating materials for fried foods are broadly classified into powdered coating materials (blenders) and liquid coating materials (batters). Coating materials not only prevent the ingredients they cover from absorbing oil and losing moisture during frying, but also impart a desirable texture, flavor, and appearance to fried foods when cooked in oil.

[0003] On the other hand, the coating may have an oily, sticky, or sticky or hard texture, which reduces the desirable texture of the fried food. In addition, it is desirable for the appearance of fried foods to have a rough, matte, non-oily coating surface, and to have rock-like irregularities. However, such oily, sticky or sticky coatings often also reduce the desirable appearance of fried foods. The quality of the coating texture and appearance after deep frying is influenced in no small part by the cooking operation, but is also influenced by the materials and composition of the coating material. Various types of coating materials have been provided to improve the texture and appearance of fried foods.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a coating material containing pulverized grain flour or starch that has been pulverized to an average particle size of less than 20 μm. Patent Document 2 describes fried chicken flour mainly made of potato starch, with 95% by weight or more of the starch having a particle size of 20 μm or more. Patent Document 3 describes a grain breader containing grains, the grains being produced by adding whipped egg liquid to a breader using grain flour or starch as the main ingredient, and the grains having a granular shape with a major axis of 0.5 to 20 mm or an indefinite shape such as a flat shape. Patent Document 4 describes a solid carrier material containing a non-granular pregelatinized starch material consisting of flaky starch particles, the starch particles having a particle size distribution such that at least 50% by weight of the starch particles have a particle size of 100 μm to 375 μm, and the BET specific surface area is 0.5 m. 2 / g or less, and a liquid component is absorbed into and / or on the surface of the solid carrier material. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-265130 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2000-350561 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2005-151876 A [Patent Document 4] International Publication No. 2009 / 103514 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention provides a fried food having a favorable appearance and an improved coating texture, and a coating material for producing the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The inventors have discovered that by using flaky starch lumps having a predetermined size as an ingredient for a coating material for fried foods, fried foods can be obtained that have a unique appearance as if covered with small sword-shaped flakes, and that the fried foods have a light, crispy, non-greasy texture.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention provides a coating material for fried foods containing flaky starch lumps, comprising: The starch mass contains pregelatinized starch, The thickness of the flaky starch mass is 100 μm to 1000 μm, and The liquid content in the flaky starch mass is less than 20%. To provide a coating material for fried foods. The present invention also relates to a use of a flaky starch mass in the production of a coating material for fried foods, comprising: The starch mass contains pregelatinized starch, The thickness of the flaky starch mass is 100 μm to 1000 μm, and The liquid content in the flaky starch mass is less than 20%. Use, provide. The present invention also relates to a use of a flaky starch mass as a coating material for fried foods, comprising: The starch mass contains pregelatinized starch, The thickness of the flaky starch mass is 100 μm to 1000 μm, and The liquid content in the flaky starch mass is less than 20%. Use, provide. The present invention also provides a method for producing fried foods, which comprises applying the coating material for fried foods to ingredients and deep-frying the ingredients. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The fried food obtained using the coating material for fried foods of the present invention has a coating that is crispy and has a light texture that is not oily.Furthermore, the fried food obtained using the coating material of the present invention has a unique appearance that seems to be covered with small sword-shaped flakes (or bristled scale-like flakes), and this appearance is reminiscent of the above-mentioned crispy light coating texture, so that it stimulates the appetite of consumers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The present invention provides a starch material for use as a coating material for fried foods. The starch material is a flaky starch mass. The flaky starch mass used in the present invention can be produced, for example, by dispersing starch in water to prepare a starch slurry, forming the starch slurry into a thin sheet and drying it by heating, and pulverizing the obtained sheet-like starch into a flaky shape. The starch slurry can be made into a clay-like or solution-like shape by changing the ratio of starch to water. When the amount of water is about 50 to 150 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of starch, the slurry becomes clay-like, and when the amount of water is 150 parts by mass or more, the slurry becomes solution-like. The clay-like slurry can be dried in a short time, but it is difficult to adjust the thickness uniformly, while the solution-like slurry is easy to make into a uniform thickness, but it takes time to dry. The sheet-like starch can be dried by a conventional method using equipment such as a drum dryer, a flash dryer, or an oven. Among these, a drum dryer is preferred from the viewpoint of the efficiency of the sheet forming and drying steps. The water used to prepare the starch slurry may contain seasonings and colorings, which can impart to the resulting flaky starch mass the ability to adjust the taste and color of the fried food.

[0011] The flaky starch lump used in the present invention may have a thickness of 100 μm to 1000 μm. In this specification, the "thickness direction" of the flaky starch lump refers to the direction in which the average size is smallest in the three-dimensional shape of the starch lump, or more simply, the direction perpendicular to the surface of the starch lump having the largest area on the flakes. In addition, in this specification, the "thickness" of the flaky starch lump refers to the maximum length in the thickness direction. The "thickness" of the flaky starch lump does not need to be constant, that is, each starch lump may have a different "thickness", and the length in the thickness direction of one starch lump does not need to be constant as long as the maximum length is within the above range. Incidentally, starch generally used for food is in the form of spherical or polygonal particles, and the particle diameter is about 2 to 80 μm. The flaky starch lump having a thickness of 100 μm to 1000 μm used in the present invention has a size that does not pass through a sieve with an opening of 100 μm. Therefore, a 1000 μm thick sheet starch is formed by the above-mentioned procedure, then pulverized, the resulting starch mass is passed through a sieve with a mesh size of 100 μm, and the fraction that does not pass through the sieve is collected, thereby obtaining a flaky starch mass having a thickness of 100 μm to 1000 μm used in the present invention. By using a coating material containing a flaky starch mass having this size, a fried food can be produced that has a coating with a light texture that is crispy and not oily, and has a unique appearance as if it is covered with small sword-shaped flakes. From the viewpoint of further improving the appearance of fried foods and the texture of the coating, the thickness of the flaky starch mass used in the present invention is preferably 180 μm to 800 μm, more preferably 250 μm to 650 μm. A flaky starch mass having these sizes can be prepared by changing the thickness of the sheet starch to be formed and the size of the mesh size of the sieve to be used, and performing the same procedure as above.

[0012] More preferably, the flaky starch mass used in the present invention contains, in its total mass, preferably 50% by mass or more, more preferably 60% by mass or more, even more preferably 70% by mass or more, and even more preferably 80% by mass or more of a fraction of a size that does not pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm and passes through a sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm. By increasing the proportion of the above-mentioned specific size fraction in the flaky starch mass, the appearance of fried foods and the texture of the coating can be further improved. Such a fraction can be prepared by passing the fraction that does not pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 100 μm (preferably 180 μm, more preferably 250 μm) recovered above through a sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm and a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm, and recovering the fraction that passes through the sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm and does not pass through the sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm.

[0013] The type of starch used as the raw material for the flaky starch mass used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it can be used for food, and examples thereof include potato starch, tapioca starch, corn starch, waxy corn starch, rice starch, wheat starch, etc. Among these, terrestrial starch derived from the above-ground part of a plant is preferred. Examples of terrestrial starch include rice starch, wheat starch, corn starch, waxy corn starch, etc., among which wheat starch, corn starch and waxy corn starch are preferred, and corn starch is more preferred. In addition, modified starch of the starch exemplified above may be used. The modified starch can be prepared by subjecting the starch exemplified above to processing such as oil processing, gelatinization, etherification, esterification, crosslinking, oxidation, and combinations thereof.

[0014] Preferably, the flaky starch lump used in the present invention contains pregelatinized starch. More preferably, the starch contained in the flaky starch lump consists of pregelatinized starch. When the starch lump contains pregelatinized starch, the coating of fried foods is given a less oily and more preferable crispy texture. The degree of pregelatinization of the starch lump used in the present invention is preferably 50% or more, more preferably 60% or more, and even more preferably 75% or more. Also preferably, the degree of pregelatinization of the starch lump is 95% or less. The degree of pregelatinization of starch in this specification is determined by the β-amylase-pullulanase (BAP) method (see Jap. Soc. Starch Sci, 28(4):235-240 (1981)).

[0015] The flaky starch lump used in the present invention is provided in the form of dried flakes and can be applied to ingredients or blended with other coating ingredients. Preferably, the flaky starch lump is a powder having the above-mentioned size. The flaky starch lump may contain liquid ingredients such as moisture, but the content of the liquid ingredient is preferably less than 20% by mass, more preferably 15% by mass or less, of the total mass. The flaky starch lump may also contain other ingredients such as the above-mentioned seasonings, colorants, and grain flour. The content of the other ingredients in the starch lump is preferably 5% by mass or less of the total mass.

[0016] The above-mentioned flaky starch lumps are used as a coating material in the production of fried foods. Thus, the present invention provides a coating material for fried foods containing the above-mentioned flaky starch lumps. The coating material for fried foods of the present invention (hereinafter also simply referred to as the coating material of the present invention) is produced by blending the flaky starch lumps with other coating material components as necessary. The content of the flaky starch lumps in the coating material of the present invention is preferably 5 to 100 mass %, more preferably 10 to 90 mass %, and even more preferably 15 to 70 mass % of the total mass of the coating material. If the amount of the flaky starch lumps in the coating material of the present invention is less than 5 mass %, the effect of improving the appearance of fried foods and the texture of the coating is reduced.

[0017] From the standpoint of further improving the appearance of fried foods and the texture of the coating, the flaky starch lumps in the coating material of the present invention preferably contain at least 50% by mass, more preferably at least 60% by mass, even more preferably at least 70% by mass, and even more preferably at least 80% by mass of a fraction having a size that does not pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm but passes through a sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm. For example, when the coating material of the present invention contains 15 to 70 mass% of the flaky starch clumps, the content of the fraction in the coating material of the present invention having a size that does not pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm but passes through a sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm may be preferably 7.5 to 70 mass%, more preferably 9 to 70 mass%, even more preferably 10.5 to 70 mass%, and even more preferably 12 to 70 mass%, of the total mass of the coating material; or in another example, the content of the fraction in the total mass of the coating material may be 20 to 70 mass%, 25 to 70 mass%, 30 to 70 mass%, or 30 to 50 mass%.

[0018] The coating material of the present invention may be a composition containing other ingredients besides the flaky starch masses described above. Examples of such other ingredients include cereal flours such as wheat flour and rice flour; starches other than the flaky starch masses or processed starches; egg powders such as whole egg powder and egg white powder; thickeners; leavening agents; seasonings such as salt, powdered soy sauce, fermented seasonings, powdered miso, and amino acids; spices; flavorings; nutritional components such as vitamins and minerals; coloring agents; powdered oils and fats; salts, etc. These other ingredients can be used alone or in combination of two or more depending on the desired characteristics of the fried food. The total content of these other ingredients is preferably 95% by mass or less, more preferably 90% by mass or less, and even more preferably 85% by mass or less, based on the total mass of the coating material of the present invention.

[0019] The type of fried food produced using the coating material of the present invention is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include fried food with bread crumbs, such as fried chicken, fried chicken, and cutlets. The ingredients of the fried food are not particularly limited, and examples thereof include livestock meats such as chicken, pork, beef, lamb, and goat; seafood; and vegetables. The ingredients to which the coating material of the present invention is applied are preferably meat or seafood. The ingredients may be seasoned before applying the coating material of the present invention. The method of seasoning the ingredients is not particularly limited, and known methods can be used. For example, the ingredients may be soaked in a powder or liquid containing seasonings, herbs, spices, sugars, amino acids, thickening polysaccharides, enzymes, and the like.

[0020] In the production of fried foods using the coating material of the present invention, typically, the coating material of the present invention is applied to an ingredient, and the ingredient to which the coating material is applied is fried. The method of applying the coating material of the present invention to an ingredient is not particularly limited, and the powdered coating material of the present invention may be applied to the ingredient, or a batter liquid containing the coating material of the present invention may be applied to the ingredient. Depending on the type of fried food to be produced, grain flour, starch, egg liquid, batter liquid, etc. not containing the coating material of the present invention may be applied to the ingredient before applying the coating material of the present invention to the ingredient. When producing a fried food with bread crumbs, bread crumbs may be applied to the ingredient to which egg liquid or batter liquid has been applied together with the coating material of the present invention. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of maintaining the shape of the starch mass on the flakes in the coating material and imparting a unique appearance characteristic to the produced fried food, such as being covered with small sword-shaped flakes, it is preferable to apply the powdered coating material of the present invention to the ingredient. Also, from the viewpoint of maintaining the appearance characteristic of the produced fried food, it is preferable not to apply other coating materials to the same layer as the coating material of the present invention or to a layer above it.

[0021] Preferably, the powdered coating material of the present invention is sprinkled on the ingredients to make them adhere to the ingredients. The method of "sprinkling" includes general coating operations, such as 1) sprinkling the coating material from above the ingredients, 2) putting the coating material and the ingredients in a bag and shaking the bag with the opening closed, and 3) spreading the coating material in a relatively wide container such as a plate and rolling the ingredients on the coating material. On the other hand, the method of adhering the batter liquid containing the coating material of the present invention to the ingredients includes immersing the ingredients in the batter liquid, spraying the batter liquid on the ingredients, etc.

[0022] The cooking temperature (oil temperature), cooking time, etc., of the ingredients coated with the batter can be appropriately set according to the type, size, etc., of the ingredients. EXAMPLES

[0023] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[0024] Test Example 1 (Preparation of flaky starch mass) 100 parts by mass of commercially available cornstarch (gelatinization degree 2%) was added to 100 to 400 parts by mass of water to prepare a slurry-like starch solution. This was spread in a thin film on a drum dryer heated to 130 to 170°C, and heated and dried while rotating the drum to form a thin-film starch sheet. The dried starch sheet was peeled off from the drum and the thickness was measured. The starch sheet was crushed and passed through a sieve with a predetermined size of opening, and the fraction remaining on the sieve was collected to obtain a flaky starch lump. At this time, the starch concentration of the slurry-like starch solution was changed in various ways to change the thickness of the starch sheet, and the size of the opening of the sieve used was changed to produce a flaky starch lump having the thickness shown in Table 1. The degree of gelatinization was measured by the BAP method using a portion of the obtained flaky starch lump.

[0025] (Preparation of coating materials) 50% by mass of the prepared flaky starch mass and 50% by mass of commercially available wheat flour (weak flour) were mixed to prepare coating materials for fried foods in Production Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 as shown in Table 1. For reference, a coating material made of wheat flour was prepared.

[0026] (fried food manufacturing) Chicken thigh meat was cut into pieces weighing 25 g each, seasoned, and used as filling. The batter prepared above was sprinkled onto this filling to adhere it. The batter-coated filling was deep-fried for 4 minutes in salad oil heated to 175°C to produce fried chicken. The fried foods produced were allowed to cool and then evaluated for appearance and batter texture. In the evaluation, 10 expert panelists scored the appearance and batter texture of the fried foods according to the following evaluation criteria, and the average score of the 10 panelists was calculated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

[0027] Evaluation criteria (exterior) 5: The entire surface of the batter is densely covered with fine, sword-shaped white flakes, and has a very dry appearance without any oiliness. Very good. 4: The surface of the batter is covered with fine, white, sword-shaped flakes, and has a dry appearance without any oiliness. Good. 3: The surface of the batter has a few small, sword-shaped white flakes, and the appearance is slightly dry and not very oily. 2: There are almost no fine, sword-shaped white flakes on the surface of the batter, and the batter has a wet, oily appearance. 1: There are no fine white sword-shaped flakes on the surface of the batter, and the batter has a very wet appearance with a strong oily feel. Very poor. (Texture of the batter) 5: The batter is very light and crispy, not at all oily, and extremely good. 4: The batter is light and crispy, not oily and very good. 3: The coating is slightly crispy and feels a little oily. 2: The coating is not crisp, is slightly hard or sticky, and feels oily, making it poor quality. 1: The coating has no crispness at all, is hard or sticky, and feels very oily, making it extremely poor quality.

[0028] [Table 1]

[0029] Test Example 2 Flaky starch lumps were obtained using the same procedure as in Test Example 1, except that the raw starch was changed from cornstarch to the starch shown in Table 2. The degree of gelatinization of the obtained starch lumps was 60% or more in all cases. Food coating materials shown in Table 2 were prepared using the obtained flaky starch lumps using the same procedure as in Test Example 1, and fried chicken was produced and evaluated using them. The evaluation results are shown in Table 2 together with the results of Production Example 4.

[0030] [Table 2]

[0031] Test Example 3 Using the same procedure as in Test Example 1, but by changing the temperature of the drum dryer, flaky starch lumps having the degree of gelatinization shown in Table 3 were obtained. Using the obtained flaky starch lumps, fried food coating materials shown in Table 3 were prepared using the same procedure as in Test Example 1, and fried chicken was produced and evaluated using them. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 together with the results of Production Examples 3 and 4.

[0032] [Table 3]

[0033] Test Example 4 A coating material for fried foods was prepared by mixing the flaky starch mass used in Production Example 4 (cornstarch, thickness 450 μm, degree of gelatinization 75%) with wheat flour in the composition shown in Table 4. Fried chicken was produced and evaluated using the resulting coating material in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The evaluation results are shown in Table 4 together with the results of Production Example 4.

[0034] [Table 4]

[0035] Test Example 5 A flaky starch mass (cornstarch, thickness 450 μm, degree of gelatinization 76%) was prepared using the same procedure as in Test Example 1. From the resulting starch mass, a fraction (fraction A) of a size that passed through a sieve with a mesh size of 2000 μm but not through a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm, and a fraction (fraction B) that passed through a sieve with a mesh size of 400 μm were separated. The resulting fractions were mixed in the ratios shown in Table 5 to prepare a coating material for fried foods. Using the resulting coating material, fried chicken was produced and evaluated using the same procedure as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 5.

[0036] [Table 5]

Claims

1. A coating material for fried foods containing flaky starch lumps, The coating material for fried foods contains 3 to 100% by mass of the flaky starch mass, The flaky starch mass contains pregelatinized starch, The degree of gelatinization of the flaky starch mass is 50% or more, The thickness of the flaky starch mass is 100 μm to 1000 μm, and The liquid content in the flaky starch mass is less than 20%. Coating material for fried foods.

2. 2. The coating material for fried foods according to claim 1, comprising 5 to 100% by mass of the flaky starch lumps.

3. 3. The coating material for fried foods according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flaky starch lumps contain a fraction that does not pass through a sieve having an opening of 400 μm and passes through a sieve having an opening of 2000 μm in an amount of 50% by mass or more based on the total mass of the flaky starch lumps.

4. The coating material for fried foods according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the starch is a ground starch.

5. The coating material for fried foods according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is in a powder form.

6. A method for producing fried foods, comprising applying the coating material for fried foods according to any one of claims 1 to 5 to ingredients and deep-frying the ingredients.

7. A method for producing a coating material for fried foods according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising the steps of: The method includes forming the starch slurry into a thin sheet and drying it by heating, and pulverizing the resulting sheet-like starch to form it into a flake-like shape, thereby producing a flaky starch mass, The coating material for fried foods contains 3 to 100% by mass of the flaky starch mass, The flaky starch mass contains pregelatinized starch, The degree of gelatinization of the flaky starch mass is 50% or more, The thickness of the flaky starch mass is 100 μm to 1000 μm, and The liquid content in the flaky starch mass is less than 20%. method.

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