Manufacturing methods for noodle wrappers

Abstract

To provide a production method of a noodle skin which can produce the noodle skin having deterioration resistance over time in terms of texture after heat cooking and having good texture not only immediately after the heat cooking but also after passage of several hours from the heat cooking.SOLUTION: A production method of a noodle skin according to the present invention comprises: a first step of adding a liquid raw material to a dough raw material not including pregelatinized farina to prepare dough having flowability at normal temperature and pressure; and a second step of freezing the dough or semi-freezing the dough into a form of a sherbert without pregelatinizing starch contained in the dough. In the second step, the freezing or semi-freezing of the dough is performed by storing the dough for 3 hours or more in an environment of atmosphere temperature of -3°C or less.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing noodle sheets that can be used as a wrapper for wrapping and eating various food ingredients.

Background Art

[0002] So-called noodle-skin foods such as spring rolls, dumplings, shumai, and steamed buns have become widespread and familiar because of the good texture of the noodle skins that wrap the food ingredients. Among them, spring rolls cooked by heating with oil are favored by many people for their crispy texture peculiar to the noodle skins and are standard products in the general food sections of supermarkets. However, spring rolls have a problem that the moisture of the food ingredients wrapped in the noodle skins gradually migrates to the noodle skins after deep-frying, so that the noodle skins become sticky and the rubbery pull becomes stronger over time, losing the crispy feeling.

[0003] Various techniques have been proposed to solve the above problems. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe improvement techniques for spring rolls that are stored frozen and reheated in a microwave oven at the time of eating. The technique described in Patent Document 1 mainly involves blending high melting point fats and oils in the raw material of the spring roll skin, and the technique described in Patent Document 2 mainly involves blending specific saccharides in the raw material of the spring roll skin. Patent Document 3 describes a method for producing noodle sheets having an aging step of subjecting a gelatinized product to an aging treatment to age the contained starch and a noodle-skin forming step of using the gelatinized product subjected to the aging treatment. As a specific example of the aging treatment, a treatment of refrigerating or freezing the gelatinized product is mentioned.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Summary of the Invention

[0005] Conventional technologies have not adequately met the demand for noodle wrappers with a crisp, non-chewy texture. In particular, there are problems with texture deterioration over time after cooking methods such as deep-frying, and with texture deterioration when reheated in a microwave oven. Noodle wrappers that have resistance to deterioration over time after cooking, maintaining the same crisp, non-chewy, and crisp texture as immediately after cooking even after being left for several hours, and that provide noodle wrappers with a good texture have not yet been provided.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing noodle wrappers that has resistance to deterioration in texture over time after cooking, and that maintains a good texture not only immediately after cooking but also several hours after cooking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] As is well known, in its unheated, ungelatinized state, starch has a micelle structure in which amylose and amylopectin are regularly aggregated by hydrogen bonds, forming highly crystalline granules. When water is added to this granular ungelatinized starch and heated, the granules hydrate and gradually swell, and if heating continues, the crystalline structure breaks down and it changes into a paste-like state. This phenomenon is gelatinization (gelatinization). Furthermore, when this hydrated gelatinized starch is cooled, it releases water over time, and the starch molecules reassemble, partially recrystallizing and agglomerating. This phenomenon is retrogradation, and even with reheating, it does not completely return to its original gelatinized state. The technology described in Patent Document 3 aims to improve the resistance of noodle wrappers to deterioration over time in texture after heating by actively utilizing this retrogradation of gelatinized (gelatinized) starch.

[0008] The inventors of the present invention have conducted various studies to improve the texture of noodle wrappers, including their resistance to deterioration over time after cooking. As a result, they have found that 1) a dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure, prepared by adding liquid ingredients to dough ingredients that do not contain pregelatinized cereal flour, can be frozen or partially frozen while maintaining the ungelatinized state of the starch in the dough, i.e., the state in which the starch retains a certain amount of moisture, resulting in a structure in which the starch does not easily retain moisture, and 2) noodle wrappers obtained by baking dough that has undergone the freezing or partially freezing treatment have a desirable crisp texture when fried, for example in the production of spring rolls, because the moisture in the dough evaporates easily when heated, and the resistance to deterioration of texture over time is improved.

[0009] The present invention is based on the above findings and is a method for producing noodle wrappers, comprising: a first step of adding a liquid raw material to a dough raw material that does not contain pregelatinized cereal flours to prepare a dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure; and a second step of freezing the dough or partially freezing the dough to make it sherbet-like without pregelatinizing the starch contained in the dough. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for producing spring rolls using spring roll wrappers produced by the method for producing noodle wrappers according to the present invention described above. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, noodle wrappers and spring rolls are provided that have resistance to deterioration in texture over time after cooking, and maintain a good texture not only immediately after cooking but also several hours after cooking. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The present invention provides a method for producing noodle wrappers that comprises at least two steps: a first step (dough preparation step) of adding a liquid raw material to dough raw material to prepare a dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure (fluid dough); and a second step (dough storage step) of freezing or partially freezing the dough.

[0012] In the first step (dough preparation step), dough ingredients that do not contain pregelatinized flours are used. In this specification, "pregelatinized flours" refers to flours in which the contained starch has been gelatinized. "Flours" here includes flour and starch, and the "starch" refers to starch separated from flour such as wheat flour, and is distinguished from the starch contained in flour. Pregelatinized flours are obtained by gelatinizing flours (flour and starch), specifically, for example, by heating flours in the presence of water.

[0013] The aforementioned "does not contain pregelatinized flours" includes not only cases where the pregelatinized flour content in the dough ingredients is zero, but also cases where the dough ingredients contain a small amount of pregelatinized flours that does not produce any effect from their presence. In other words, the aforementioned "does not contain pregelatinized flours" can be rephrased as "substantially does not contain pregelatinized flours." Specifically, "substantially does not contain" means, for example, that the pregelatinized flour content in the dough ingredients may be preferably 3% by mass or less, more preferably 1% by mass or less, of the total mass of all flours (flour and starch) contained in the dough ingredients.

[0014] As for flours added to dough ingredients that do not contain pregelatinized flours, i.e., unpregelatinized flours (unpregelatinized flour, unpregelatinized starch), those commonly used in the manufacture of noodles and noodle wrappers can be used without particular restrictions, provided they are not pregelatinized, and one type can be used alone or in combination of two or more types. Examples of ungelatinized flours include wheat flour such as strong flour, semi-strong flour, medium flour, weak flour, and durum wheat flour; buckwheat flour, rice flour, corn flour, barley flour, rye flour, adlay flour, barnyard millet flour, and foxtail millet flour. Depending on the purpose, heat-treated wheat flour can also be used as the ungelatinized flour. Examples of ungelatinized starches include tapioca starch, potato starch, corn starch, waxy corn starch, wheat starch, and rice starch; processed starches obtained by etherification, esterification, acetylation, cross-linking, oxidation, etc., of these unprocessed starches (raw starch); and indigestible starches. A preferred example of ungelatinized cereal flour is wheat flour. The wheat flour content in the dough ingredients is preferably 50% by mass or more, more preferably 60% by mass or more, and even more preferably 80% by mass or more, of the total mass of cereal flours contained in the dough ingredients. When using ungelatinized cereal flours other than wheat flour, the content of these ungelatinized cereal flours in the dough ingredients can be set in the same way as the content of wheat flour.

[0015] The dough ingredients may contain sugars. Adding sugars to the dough ingredients can further improve the texture of the noodle wrappers after cooking. For example, if the noodle wrappers are spring roll wrappers, the color will be more likely to improve, and the texture after frying may become crispy. Examples of sugars include sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrin (including indigestible dextrin), corn syrup, reduced corn syrup, trehalose, xylose, maltose, maltooligosaccharides, etc., and one of these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. More preferably, one or more containing reduced corn syrup is used. Furthermore, as for the sugars, those in which the "ratio of the total mass of tetrasaccharides or more in the solid content to the total mass of the solid content of sugars" (hereinafter also referred to as the "tetrasaccharide or more content") is 50% by mass or more are preferred, and in particular, reduced starch syrup with a tetrasaccharide or more content of 50% by mass or more is preferred. The sugar content in the dough ingredients is preferably 0.5 to 20 parts by mass, more preferably 1 to 10 parts by mass, per 100 parts by mass of the flours contained in the dough ingredients. If the sugar content in the dough ingredients is too low, there is little point in using them, and if the sugar content is too high, the crispness of the noodle wrappers after heating may decrease.

[0016] The dough ingredients may contain oils and fats. By incorporating oils and fats into the dough ingredients, the texture of the noodle wrappers after cooking can be further improved. For example, if the noodle wrappers are spring roll wrappers, the texture after frying can be less chewy and more crisp. Examples of fats and oils include vegetable fats and oils such as salad oil, hydrogenated palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, corn oil, olive oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, rice oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, mango kernel oil, sal fat, illipe fat, etc.; animal fats and oils such as beef tallow, milk fat, lard, fish oil, whale oil, etc.; and processed fats and oils obtained by subjecting various animal and vegetable fats and oils to treatments such as hydrogenation, fractionation, and ester exchange. One of these can be used alone or two or more can be combined. The fats and oils used as dough raw materials preferably include solid fats and oils that are solid at normal temperature and pressure, and more preferably, the solid fats and oils include solid fats and oils having a melting point of 40 to 80°C. The content of fats and oils in the dough raw material is preferably 1 to 20 parts by mass, more preferably 2 to 15 parts by mass, relative to 100 parts by mass of the flour contained in the dough raw material. If the content of fats and oils in the dough raw material is too low, the significance of using it is poor. If the content of fats and oils is too high, the persistence of the crispy feeling after heat cooking of the noodle skins may decrease.

[0017] The dough raw material may contain other raw materials (auxiliary raw materials) other than the above-mentioned flours, sugars, and fats and oils. Examples of auxiliary raw materials include egg white, egg yolk, enzymatically decomposed egg protein, milk, wheat protein, soybean protein, pigments, thickening polysaccharides (locust bean gum, gellan gum, guar gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan, etc.), amino acids (alanine, glycine, lysine, etc.), salt, emulsifiers, enzymes (protease, amylase, etc.), organic acids, organic acid salts, alcohols, preservatives, pH adjusters, etc. One of these can be used alone or two or more can be combined.

[0018] In the first step, a liquid raw material is added to the dough raw material to prepare a fluid dough having fluidity at normal temperature and pressure (specifically, for example, an air temperature of 25°C and 1 atmospheric pressure). The preparation of the dough can be carried out according to a conventional method. The liquid raw material typically mainly consists of water (fresh water, well water, filtered water, etc.), and in addition to water, it may further contain salt, eggs, and other water-soluble raw materials (stock, seasonings, etc.).

[0019] In the first step, the addition amount of the liquid raw material to the dough raw material may be appropriately adjusted according to the type of the noodle skins to be produced and the like, and is not particularly limited. However, by adjusting the viscosity of the fluid dough by increasing or decreasing the addition amount of the liquid raw material, it is possible to produce a thickness suitable for noodle skins (especially spring roll skins). Therefore, based on 100 parts by mass of the flour contained in the dough raw material, it is preferably 80 to 200 parts by mass, more preferably 100 to 150 parts by mass.

[0020] In the second step (storage step), the fluid dough prepared in the first step is frozen or semi-frozen without gelatinizing the starch contained in the dough. The manifestation of the predetermined effects of the present invention (such as improvement in the texture of noodle skins and resistance to deterioration over time) greatly depends on the implementation of the second step. The phrase "without gelatinizing the starch contained in the dough" means that in the process from the preparation of the dough (the first step) to the freezing or semi-freezing of the dough (hereinafter, also referred to as the "pre-step before freezing / semi-freezing"), the starch contained in the dough raw material is prevented from gelatinizing. Specifically, for example, it includes not heating the dough raw material or the dough in the pre-step before freezing / semi-freezing. As an example of "not heating" here, it includes not raising the temperature of the dough raw material or the dough to 50°C or higher in the pre-step before freezing / semi-freezing.

[0021] In the second step, the fluid dough may be frozen, that is, the whole of the dough may be frozen to form ice cubes, or the dough may be semi-frozen to be in a sherbet state. The sherbet-like dough typically has a state where a part of the dough that had fluidity before semi-freezing is frozen to form ice cubes or ice crystals, and the remaining part of the dough has fluidity without freezing. The method of freezing or semi-freezing the dough is not particularly limited, and any method that can freeze or semi-freeze a fluid dough mainly composed of flour and moisture may be used. Specifically, for example, there is a method of leaving the dough to be processed in an environment with an ambient temperature of 0°C or lower for a predetermined time. As a typical method, there is a method of accommodating the dough to be processed in various containers such as a bag-shaped container, and storing the whole container in a freezer whose internal temperature is maintained within a predetermined temperature range of 0°C or lower for a predetermined time. When storing the dough to be processed in an environment with an ambient temperature of 0°C or below, the degree of freezing or partial freezing of the dough can be controlled by adjusting the storage time. Generally, partial freezing (making the dough into a sherbet-like consistency) requires a shorter storage time than complete freezing. When freezing or partially freezing dough, either slow freezing or rapid freezing is acceptable. "Slow freezing" here refers to freezing at a slow cooling rate, such as by leaving it undisturbed in a freezer, while "rapid freezing" refers to a freezing method that increases the cooling rate by using liquid refrigerant or cold air in combination. Typical "rapid freezing" methods include the use of brine freezers, tunnel freezers, spiral freezers, and shock freezers.

[0022] An example of a fabric storage process that can be used in the second step is to store the fabric to be processed in an environment where the ambient temperature is preferably -3°C or lower, more preferably -5°C or lower, for preferably 3 hours or more, more preferably 6 hours or more.

[0023] The present invention's method for producing noodle wrappers may further include a third step in addition to the first and second steps described above, in which the dough obtained through the second step is baked. This third step transforms the dough into noodle wrappers. The third step can be called the noodle wrapper formation step. In the third step, the method of baking the dough is not particularly limited, and an appropriate method can be selected from known baking methods depending on the type of noodle wrapper to be manufactured. For example, when manufacturing spring roll wrappers as noodle wrappers, the dough that has gone through the second step, i.e., the dough that is frozen or semi-frozen, can be thawed as necessary to become a dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure, and then the dough can be dropped in a film-like manner onto a rotating heating drum for baking. The method of thawing the frozen or semi-frozen dough is not particularly limited, and examples include thawing the dough by leaving it undisturbed in a room temperature (e.g., around 10-20°C) or refrigerated (0-10°C) environment, or thawing the dough by running water over it. Alternatively, the dough that has gone through the second step may be baked as is without thawing.

[0024] In the third step, a method may be adopted in which only the dough that has gone through the second step (the dough that has been frozen or semi-frozen) is baked to produce noodle wrappers from said dough (the first method), or a method may be adopted in which the dough that has gone through the second step and another dough are used in combination to produce noodle wrappers (the second method).

[0025] In the second method described above, the third step involves baking a mixture of the dough that has gone through the second step and another dough that has been prepared without going through the second step. This "another dough" can be the same as the dough that has gone through the second step, except that it has not gone through the second step. That is, the other dough used in combination with the dough that has gone through the second step can be prepared by adding a liquid ingredient to dough ingredients that do not contain pregelatinized cereal flours, and may be a fluid dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure. In the above mixture, the mass ratio of the dough that has undergone the second step to the other dough is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of ensuring that the predetermined effects of the present invention are reliably achieved, the ratio of the mass of flours contained in the dough that has undergone the second step to the total mass of flours contained in the mixture is preferably 25% by mass or more, more preferably 40% by mass or more.

[0026] The types of noodle wrappers to which the present invention can be applied are not particularly limited, and examples include noodle wrappers (wrapping wrappers for wrapping various ingredients) used in noodle wrapper foods such as spring rolls, dumplings, shumai, wontons, and xiaolongbao.

[0027] The present invention's method for producing noodle wrappers is suitable for producing spring roll wrappers. The present invention includes a method for producing spring rolls using spring roll wrappers produced by the method for producing noodle wrappers of the present invention. The method for producing spring rolls of the present invention typically comprises the steps of producing spring roll wrappers by the method for producing noodle wrappers of the present invention described above, and wrapping ingredients in the spring roll wrappers to obtain uncooked spring rolls. The step of obtaining uncooked spring rolls can be carried out according to conventional methods. The type of ingredients enclosed in the spring roll wrappers is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected from ingredients such as meats and vegetables that are commonly used as spring roll fillings. The method for producing spring rolls of the present invention may also include a step of refrigerating or freezing the uncooked spring rolls after the step of obtaining the uncooked spring rolls. [Examples]

[0028] 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.

[0029] [Examples 1-10, Comparative Example 1: Production of spring roll wrappers] As dough ingredients, ungelatinized wheat flour (manufactured by Nisshin Flour Milling Co., Ltd., product name "Toku No. 1"), salt, sugars (glucose), liquid oil (salad oil), reduced starch syrup (manufactured by Bussan Food Science Co., Ltd., product name "SE 30", tetrasaccharide or higher content 56-76%), and solid oil (manufactured by Yokozeki Oil & Fat Industry Co., Ltd., product name "Voujo S", melting point 40℃) were used. A predetermined amount of water as a liquid ingredient was added to the dough ingredients and kneaded to obtain a fluid dough with the formulation shown in Table 1 below (dough preparation process). Next, 2 kg of the liquid dough was placed into a pouch-like container, and the liquid dough in the container was stored for a specified time using one of the following storage methods A to C (dough storage process). • Storage Method A (Frozen Storage): A method of storing liquid dough in a container in a constant temperature chamber (commercially available dough conditioner or freezer) set to a constant freezing temperature (-3°C, -5°C, -10°C, or -18°C) for a specified period of time. • Storage Method B (Frozen Storage after Rapid Freezing): The liquid dough in the container is processed for 30 minutes in a rapid freezer (manufactured by Abby Co., Ltd., KX-R10AF1) at a set temperature of -30°C, and then stored for the specified time. • Storage Method C (Refrigerated Storage): This method involves storing the liquid dough in a container in a constant temperature refrigerator (commercially available refrigerator) set to a constant temperature (4°C) for a specified period of time. Under Storage Method C, the liquid dough remains fluid without freezing or partially freezing. Next, the dough that had undergone the dough storage process (stored dough) was baked on the drum surface using a drum-type baking machine to produce strip-shaped spring roll wrappers with a thickness of 0.5 to 0.55 mm (noodle wrapper production process). The dough stored by storage method A or B (frozen or semi-frozen dough) was thawed by thawing under running water, thawing at room temperature (20°C) (room temperature thawing), or thawing at room temperature (4°C) (refrigerated thawing) before baking, while the dough stored by storage method C (liquid dough) was baked as is. In the noodle wrapper production process, the ratio of the mass of flours contained in the dough that had undergone the storage process (stored dough) to the total mass of flours contained in the dough to be made into noodle wrappers (baked) (hereinafter also referred to as the "percentage of stored dough") was 100% by mass.

[0030] [Comparison Example 1: Spring Roll Wrapper Manufacturing] Spring roll wrappers were manufactured in the same manner as in each of the above embodiments, except that the above-mentioned dough storage step was omitted and the liquid dough obtained in the above-mentioned dough preparation step was baked as is.

[0031] [Examples 11-15: Production of spring roll wrappers] In the noodle-making process described above, spring roll wrappers were produced in the same manner as in Example 7, except that another dough was used in addition to the stored dough, such that the proportion of stored dough was as shown in Table 2 below. The other dough was the same as the stored dough in Example 7, except that it had not gone through the dough storage process described above.

[0032] [Evaluation Test] The strip-shaped spring roll wrappers of each example, comparative example, and control example were divided into 190mm x 190mm square-shaped pieces. Cooked ingredients were placed on one side of each piece of spring roll wrapper, and the wrappers were rolled up to produce uncooked spring rolls for frying. These were then frozen and stored in a freezer at a temperature of -40°C. These frozen uncooked spring rolls were deep-fried in salad oil at 175-180°C to obtain spring rolls. After leaving the spring rolls at room temperature (25°C) for 4 hours, they were subjected to a sensory evaluation of their texture. The sensory evaluation was conducted by having 10 expert panelists evaluate the crispness and chewiness of the spring rolls based on the evaluation criteria described below. The evaluation results are shown in Tables 1 and 2 below as the average scores of the 10 expert panelists.

[0033] <Criteria for evaluating crispness> 5 points: It has the same crispness as if it were freshly fried, which is excellent. 4 points: Very crispy, good. 3 points: Slightly crispy (similar to the control example). 2 points: Slightly lacking in crispness, somewhat disappointing. 1 point: It lacks crispness and is defective. <Criteria for evaluating luck> 5 points: Excellent, comparable to immediately after deep frying, with no stickiness. 4 points: Not many draws, good. 3 points: There is some luck involved (similar to the control example). 2 points: The draw is slightly strong, but slightly poor. 1 point: Strong draw, poor quality.

[0034] [Table 1]

[0035] As shown in Table 1, in each example, the liquid dough was frozen or partially frozen to create a sherbet-like consistency without gelatinizing the starch contained in the dough. As a result, the texture after 4 hours of cooking was superior to that of the control and comparative examples, which did not undergo such a freezing or partially freezing process.

[0036] [Table 2]

[0037] Table 2 shows that Examples 13-15 and 7 received particularly high ratings for texture. Therefore, in order to improve the resistance of noodle wrappers to deterioration over time after cooking, it is preferable that the proportion of stored dough in the noodle wrapper formation process, that is, "the ratio of the mass of flours contained in the mixture of the dough that has gone through the second step and another dough prepared without going through the second step, to the total mass of flours contained in the dough (mixture) to be baked in the third step," be 25% by mass or more.

Claims

1. The first step involves adding liquid ingredients to dough ingredients that do not contain pregelatinized cereal flours to prepare a dough that is fluid at room temperature and pressure, A method for producing noodle wrappers, comprising a second step of freezing the dough or partially freezing the dough to make it into a sherbet-like consistency without gelatinizing the starch contained in the dough.

2. The method for producing noodle wrappers according to claim 1, wherein in the second step, the freezing or partial freezing of the dough is carried out by storing the dough in an environment with an ambient temperature of -3°C or lower for 3 hours or more.

3. The method for producing noodle wrappers according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the first step, the amount of the liquid raw material added to the dough raw material is 80 to 200 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of cereal flours contained in the dough raw material.

4. Furthermore, the method for producing noodle wrappers according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a third step of baking the dough that has undergone the second step.

5. In the third step, a mixture of the dough that has gone through the second step and another dough that has not gone through the second step is baked. The method for producing noodle wrappers according to claim 4, wherein the ratio of the mass of cereal flours contained in the dough after the second step to the total mass of cereal flours contained in the mixture is 25% by mass or more.

6. A method for producing noodle wrappers according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the noodle wrappers are spring roll wrappers.

7. A method for producing spring rolls using spring roll wrappers produced by the method described in claim 6.

Images