Granular food and its manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide a granular food which can be easily cooked / processed to a desired fish egg-like food and becomes a new intermediate product distributed in a market, and to provide a production method of the same.SOLUTION: A granular food is obtained by: dropping a sol solution A containing 10.0-14.0 wt.% of processed starch, and 0.6-1.4 wt.% of sodium alginate to a calcium solution B; forming the product to a large number of microspheres (gelatinized material) C with a grain diameter of 1.0-4.0 mm; taking out the microspheres (gelatinized product) C from the calcium solution B and subjecting to dehydration treatment so as to bring into dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelatinized material) D; sealing the dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelatinized material) D in a packaging bag E; and heat-treating the product in a packaged state followed by freezing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a granular food that can be used as a cooking or processing material and can be cooked into a fish roe-like food, and a method for producing the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Methods for producing artificial fish eggs such as artificial salmon roe and artificial caviar have been widely known for some time. The basic production method involves adding sodium alginate to a liquid containing ingredients corresponding to the granular food to be produced or a liquid containing solids, and then dropping the mixture into a calcium solution to produce small spherical fish egg-like foods (granular foods).

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a paste is made by mixing 0.01 to 10.0% water-soluble alginate into an aqueous solution of ground up general food, and that when this paste is added dropwise to a 0.1 to 1.0% calcium chloride solution, it solidifies into agar-like, fish-roe-like spheres.

[0004] Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose a method for producing a food product with a fish roe flavor by adding oil to the dripped material, and Patent Document 3 in particular discloses a method for filling a container with the artificial fish roe and heat-treating it to produce a food product that can be stored at room temperature for a long period of time.Other methods proposed include a multilayer coating structure (Patent Document 4) and a method for drying granular gelled material (water content of 2.0 to 10.0 wt%) and then wetting it with a specified seasoning liquid (cod roe marinade liquid) (Patent Document 5). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 36-15088. [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1-91762. [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-176724. [Patent Document 4] Special Publication No. 61-37902. [Patent Document 5] Patent No. 3610363. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Conventional methods for producing artificial fish roe-like foods involve gelling the food into granules using a liquid or paste containing sodium alginate seasoned to correspond to the desired artificial fish roe, and then distributing the gelled food to the market as is. Alternatively, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, the granules are first dried and then swelled by impregnating them with a seasoning liquid to produce the product. That is, by using the various methods described above, granular foods corresponding to the desired food, such as artificial cod roe, artificial caviar, and artificial salmon roe, are produced and sold on the market as a complete processed food that can be eaten as is.

[0007] However, there are no granular fish roe-like foods on the market that can be seasoned and cooked at home as desired, or that are suitable for unique seasonings and small-scale production of a wide variety of foods in factories. Furthermore, since it is possible to produce fish roe-like processed foods by forming a granular gelled material into a dry state and then impregnating it with a desired seasoning liquid and swelling it, it is conceivable to provide granular gelled materials on the market in a dry state, but the drying process requires equipment, energy costs, production time, etc., making it difficult to produce them inexpensively and provide them on the market.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention proposes a new granular food product that can be used as an intermediate product that can be easily cooked and processed into the desired fish roe-like food product, and a method for producing the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The method for producing a granular food according to claim 1 of the present invention is characterized in that a sol solution containing 10.0 to 14.0 wt% of processed starch and 0.6 to 1.4 wt% of sodium alginate is dropped into a calcium solution to form a large number of small spheres (gelled material) with a particle size of 1.0 to 4.0 mm, which are then removed from the calcium solution and dehydrated, and after dehydration, the food is sealed and packaged, heat-treated while still packaged, and then frozen after heat-treatment.

[0010] In addition, the method for producing a granular food according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that the small spheres (gelled material) are dehydrated, particularly to 70.0 wt % or less of the amount of sol solution supplied.

[0011] The granular food produced by the method of the present invention is gelled by the reaction between sodium alginate and calcium ions, and becomes water-absorbent through dehydration, with the modified starch becoming edible through heat treatment. Therefore, when thawed and rehydrated with an appropriate seasoning, the food absorbs water according to the degree of dehydration in the dehydration process, and is cooked and processed into a seasoned granular food. In particular, by dehydrating the food to 50.0 wt% or less of the supplied sol solution, optimal product weight and optimal seasoning absorption can be achieved.

[0012] Furthermore, the granular food of the present invention described in claim 3 is a dehydrated sphere (dehydrated gelled product) having a moisture content of 70.0 wt% or less, which is obtained by dehydrating spheres (gelled product) made of sodium alginate and calcium ions, and which contains heat-treated processed starch. When allowed to absorb water, it becomes a sphere with a particle size of 1.0 to 4.0 mm, which is then sealed and packaged in an appropriate amount in its pre-water absorption state and frozen.

[0013] The granular food is distributed on the market in a state where it can absorb water after being dehydrated and in a frozen package. At home or in a processing factory, it is thawed and immersed in an appropriate seasoning liquid to absorb water, and then cooked and processed into a fish roe-like food that has been permeated with the seasoning liquid and flavored. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] As described above, the present invention is a granular food (gelled material) that can be easily impregnated with seasoning liquid by the simple means of dehydration treatment, and can be cooked into the desired fish roe-like granular food by soaking it in seasoning liquid prepared to the taste of each household.In addition, a variety of fish roe-like foods can be produced by processing it using various types of seasoning liquid. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1A to 1C are process explanatory diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Description of the blending ratio of the same embodiment (control) (Table 1) and identification of the materials used (Table 2: product names and manufacturer names). [Figure 3] Sample composition for verifying the blending ratio of the same processed starch (Table 3). [Figure 4] The same verification results (Table 4). [Figure 5] Sample composition for verifying the sodium alginate blending ratio (Table 5). [Figure 6] The same verification results (Table 6). [Figure 7] Table 7 shows the formulation explanation for verifying the maximum and minimum formulations of the same processed starch and sodium alginate, as well as the verification results (Table 8) and analysis results (Table 9). [Figure 8] Verification results for each particle size (Table 10). [Figure 9] Analysis results for each particle size (Table 11). [Figure 10] The relationship between particle size and yield rate (Graph 1). [Figure 11] The relationship between particle size and water absorption rate (Graph 2). [Figure 12] Verification results of each yield rate (Table 12) [Figure 13] The relationship between yield rate and water absorption rate (Graph 3). [Figure 14] The relationship between yield rate and moisture content (Graph 4). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Next, an embodiment of a method for producing a granular food according to the present invention will be described. As shown in Figure 1, the production process is carried out in the following order: a small sphere (gelled product) formation process, a draining and dehydration process, a packaging process, and a heating and freezing process.

[0017] In the process of forming small spheres (gelled material), modified starch, sodium alginate, and optionally added pigments are prepared into sol solution A in a grinder, and the sol solution A is then dropped into calcium solution (e.g., 2.0% calcium lactate solution) B in a liquid tank 2 using an appropriate dropping device 1 such as a spray nozzle. The dropped sol solution A is instantly formed into small spheres (gelled material) C due to ionic cross-linking between the sodium alginate and calcium ions.

[0018] In the draining and dehydration step, the bottom of the liquid tank 2 is inclined, an outlet is provided at the bottom, and the formed small spheres (gelated material) C and calcium solution are drained from the outlet 21 of the liquid tank 2 into the mesh container 3 to drain the liquid. The drained small spheres (gelated material) C are then dehydrated in the mesh container 3 using a centrifugal dehydrator 4.

[0019] In the packaging step, a suitable amount of dehydrated spheres (dehydrated gel) D that have been subjected to the dehydration treatment is filled into packaging bags E using a filling device 5, and the bags are sealed and packaged.

[0020] In the heating and freezing step, the sealed package is heated in a steamer 6 and slowly frozen in a freezer 7. The heat treatment may be sufficient to gelatinize the processed starch contained in the dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelatinized material) D.

[0021] To give a more specific example of the embodiment, the materials shown in Table 2 in Fig. 2 are mixed in a grinder in the blending ratios shown in Table 1 (all distribution ratios are expressed in wt%, and hereinafter will be omitted and simply expressed as %) to prepare sol solution A. The sol solution A is dripped into calcium solution B in liquid tank 2 using dripping device 1, such as a small-diameter spray nozzle, to form spheres (gelated product) C with a diameter of 1.0 mm. The particle size of the spheres (gelated product) C is determined by the diameter of the spray nozzle and the spray speed (amount dripped per unit time), so the dripping diameter and dripping amount are determined to achieve the desired particle size.

[0022] The 1.0 mm diameter spheres (gelled material) C were drained in a mesh container 3 and dehydrated in a centrifugal dehydrator 4. Dehydration was carried out at 1,350 rpm for 5 minutes. After dehydration, the dehydrated spheres (dehydrated gelled material) D amounted to 23.0% of the amount of sol solution supplied. (Hereinafter, the dehydration rate will be referred to as the "yield rate").

[0023] The dehydrated spheres (dehydrated gel) D were filled into a polyfilm bag (packaging bag) E, steamed at 90°C for 40 minutes, allowed to cool appropriately, and then stored in a freezer (-20°C) for slow freezing.

[0024] After thawing frozen dehydrated spheres (dehydrated gelled material) D, 100 g of dehydrated spheres (dehydrated gelled material) D were removed from packaging bag E and immersed in 200 g of seasoning liquid (tap water) F for 24 hours. When this was done, the spheres (gelled material) C1 were reconstituted and had a texture similar to that of fish eggs.

[0025] Next, we verified whether the effects of the method of the present invention could be achieved by varying the blending ratio of the materials used, the diameter of the granular gelled material to be produced, the amount of water removed during the dehydration treatment, etc., and identified the scope of the method of the present invention.

[0026] The manufacturing process for each test was performed under the same conditions as the manufacturing process described in the embodiment (control). The test and analysis methods used were the "yield rate" calculated by dividing the weight of dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelled material) D by the weight of microspheres (gelled material) C (= the weight of sol solution A supplied to liquid tank 2), the "moisture content" measured with a heat-drying moisture meter, and the "water absorption rate" calculated from the specific gravities of thawed dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelled material) D and reconstituted microspheres (reconstituted gelled material) C1. Furthermore, "freeze resistance" was evaluated by visually inspecting the thawed dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelled material) D and reconstituted microspheres (reconstituted gelled material) C1, and "taste" was evaluated by tasting the reconstituted microspheres (reconstituted gelled material) C1.

[0027] To verify the blending ratio of modified starch, spheres (gelled material) C were manufactured in 2.0% increments over the range of 4.0 to 16.0%, as shown in the recipe in Figure 3 (Table 3). As shown in Figure 4 (Table 4), the formation was unstable at 4.0% and 16.0% addition, and in the range of 4.0 to 8.0%, the reconstituted spheres (gelled material) C1 did not have the chewy texture of fish eggs. It was confirmed that a blending ratio of 10.0 to 14.0% is optimal for modified starch.

[0028] To verify the sodium alginate content, small spheres (gelled material) C were produced in 0.2% increments in the range of 0.4 to 1.6% as shown in the recipe in Figure 5 (Table 5). As a result, as shown in Figure 6 (Table 6), spheres could not be formed at 0.4% and 1.6%, and at 1.4%, spheres were formed but were unstable. It was confirmed that a sodium alginate content in the range of 0.6 to 1.2% is suitable.

[0029] For further confirmation, microspheres (gelled material) C were manufactured using the maximum (MAX) and minimum (min) blend amounts of modified starch and sodium alginate as shown in the blending table in Table 7 of Figure 7, and verification was carried out. As a result, no problems were found, as shown in Table 8, and the analysis results are also as shown in Table 9.

[0030] Next, to verify the particle size of the small spheres (gelled material) C formed by dropping sol solution A into calcium solution B, sol solution A having the formulation described in the embodiment (formulation in Table 1) was used, and dropping device 1 was adjusted to form small spheres (gelled material) C with particle sizes ranging from 1.0 to 4.5 mm in increments of 0.5 mm. Each was then dehydrated (under the same conditions as in the embodiment), packaged, filled, heated and frozen, thawed, and restored (rehydrated), and then verified and analyzed.

[0031] The results of the verification are shown in Figure 8 (Table 10), and at a particle size of 4.5 mm, the shape of the reconstituted spheres (reconstituted gel) C1 was distorted, and an unnatural texture was observed, as if the core was still present. Therefore, it was confirmed that the appropriate particle size range is 1.0 to 4.0 mm.

[0032] The analysis results are shown in Figure 9 (Table 11), and the relationship between particle size and yield rate (degree of dehydration) is shown in Figure 10 (Graph 1), which indicates that the smaller the particle size, the better the dehydration efficiency, but it was confirmed that the size of the particle size does not have a significant effect on the dehydration process.In addition, the relationship between particle size and water absorption is shown in Figure 11 (Graph 12), and it can be said that a particle size of 1.5 mm or less is preferable in terms of the efficiency of impregnation with seasoning liquid during reconstitution with water.

[0033] Next, to verify the yield rate (degree of dehydration) in the dehydration process, 1.0 mm spheres (gelated material) C were formed using the same blending ratio as in the embodiment (blending in Table 1), and the dehydration time in the centrifugal dehydrator 4 was adjusted to dehydrate the product in 10.0% increments over a yield rate range of 95.0% to 15.0%, and the product was then packaged, filled, heated and frozen, thawed, and rehydrated (reconstituted with water) for verification and analysis. The verification results, as shown in Figure 12 (Table 12), confirmed that even when the spheres (gelated material) C were dehydrated (to 95% or less), there was no problem with the formation of restored spheres (restored gelated material) C1.

[0034] Furthermore, in the present invention, the dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelled material) D are not consumed as they are, but are consumed after being impregnated with seasoning liquid F. Considering that a certain degree of water absorption is necessary, as shown in Figure 13 (Graph 3) and Figure 14 (Graph 4), it is desirable that the yield rate of the microspheres (gelled material) C during the dehydration process be 50.0% or less, and that the moisture content of the dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gelled material) D after dehydration be 70.0% or less. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 Dripping device 2 liquid tank 21 Outlet 3 mesh containers 4. Centrifugal dehydrator 5 Filling equipment 6 Steaming device 7. Freezer A sol solution B. Calcium solution C. Small spheres (gelled material) C1 Reconstituted spheres (reconstituted gel) D. Dehydrated microspheres (dehydrated gel) E. Polyethylene film bags (packaging bags) F Seasoning liquid

Claims

1. A sol solution containing 10.0 to 14.0 wt% of processed starch and 0.6 to 1.4 wt% of sodium alginate is dropped into a calcium solution to form a large number of small spheres (gelled material) with a particle size of 1.0 to 4.0 mm, which are then removed from the calcium solution and dehydrated. After dehydration, the granular food is sealed and packaged, heat-treated while still packaged, and frozen after heat-treatment.

2. 2. The method for producing granular food according to claim 1, wherein the small spheres (gelled material) are dehydrated to 50.0 wt % or less of the amount of sol solution supplied.

Images