Pasta sauce, frozen pasta food product, and method for producing frozen pasta food product

Abstract

A pasta sauce according to the present invention is used by being coated on the surface of cooked pasta and being frozen together with the cooked pasta, and contains 0.1 to 5 mass% of dextrin having a DE value of less than 5. A frozen pasta product according to the present invention is obtained by freezing cooked pasta and the pasta sauce coated on the surface of the cooked pasta. The pasta sauce preferably contains 0.4 to 2.8 mass% of the dextrin having a DE value of less than 5. The dextrin having a DE value of less than 5 is preferably a highly branched cyclic dextrin.

Description

Pasta Sauce, Frozen Pasta Food, and Method for Producing Frozen Pasta Food

[0001] The present invention relates to a pasta sauce that is adhered to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen together with the cooked pasta for use, as well as frozen pasta food using the same and a method for producing frozen pasta food.

[0002] Pasta such as spaghetti and macaroni has a unique chewy texture among noodles, matches well with various sauces, and is a popular food. After being boiled, pasta is eaten together with sauce. Generally, boiling pasta requires more than ten minutes in boiling water, so energy efficiency is poor when cooking a single serving. In recent years, the trend of individual consumption has increased, and in order to reduce such waste, frozen pasta foods in which pre-cooked pasta is frozen together with sauce and packed in containers are commercially available. Frozen pasta foods are highly popular because they can be stored for a relatively long period of time and can be easily eaten just by heating and thawing them in a microwave oven or the like. On the other hand, noodles including pasta undergo the so-called over-softening phenomenon (overcooking softening) and deteriorate in quality as time passes after cooking. Furthermore, even when boiled noodles and sauce are stored frozen in a contact state, water moves from the sauce to the noodles during frozen storage, which may cause further softening and deteriorate the quality of the noodles.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a method for producing frozen noodles, in which, in order to prevent softening of frozen noodles, noodles are boiled with a shorter boiling time than the conventional method to leave a core, the noodles are quickly frozen, a thickener-containing solution is adhered to the noodles, and the noodles are further quickly frozen.

[0004] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-99907

[0005] The technique of Patent Document 1 requires two quick freezing steps before and after adhering the thickener-containing solution, which requires time and effort for production. Furthermore, since the technique of Patent Document 1 packages frozen noodles and frozen soup (sauce) separately, it cannot be applied when boiled noodles and sauce are stored frozen in a contact state, and cannot prevent water migration from the sauce adhered to the pasta to the pasta in frozen pasta food.

[0006] The objective of the present invention is to suppress the deterioration of quality due to the stretching of cooked pasta during frozen storage and to maintain the good texture of cooked pasta when pasta sauce is applied to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen to produce frozen pasta food.

[0007] The present invention relates to a pasta sauce that is applied to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen together with the cooked pasta, characterized in that it contains 0.1 to 5% by mass of dextrin with a DE value of less than 5. The present invention also relates to a frozen pasta food product in which cooked pasta and the pasta sauce applied to the surface of the cooked pasta are frozen together. The present invention also relates to a method for producing a frozen pasta food product, which involves applying the pasta sauce to the surface of cooked pasta and rapidly freezing it at a refrigerant temperature of -30 degrees Celsius or lower.

[0008] The pasta sauce of the present invention is consumable with pasta, and while there are no particular limitations on the types of sauces, examples include tomato-based sauces such as tomato sauce, meat sauce, Neapolitan sauce, and arrabiata sauce; white-based sauces such as white sauce, cheese sauce, and carbonara sauce; brown-based sauces such as demi-glace sauce and brown sauce; Japanese-style sauces such as Japanese-style soy sauce and butter soy sauce; and oil-based sauces such as peperoncini, vongole bianco, and pesto.

[0009] The raw materials for the pasta sauce of the present invention can be any material that can be used as a raw material for this type of sauce, without any particular limitations. Examples include vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, garlic, and leeks; aromatic vegetables such as bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, and sage; natural spices such as vegetable extracts, meat extracts, and dried herbs; salt, pepper, dairy ingredients, sugars, starches, flours, various seasonings, solid soup stocks, oils and fats, and water. These can be used in appropriate combinations depending on the type of pasta sauce.

[0010] The pasta sauce of the present invention contains dextrin with a DE (dextrose equivalent) value of less than 5, preferably 1 or more and less than 4. The dextrin can be any edible type, and commercially available dextrin can be used. Dextrin is made by reducing the molecular weight of starch, and the DE value represents the number of reducing ends per 100 glucose molecules that make up the dextrin, and is a relative measure of the degree of molecular weight reduction. The closer the DE value is to 0, the closer the properties are to starch, and the closer it is to 100, the closer the properties are to glucose. It should be noted that using cyclodextrin as dextrin is undesirable because it is difficult to obtain the desired effect and the flavor of the sauce is reduced.

[0011] Dextrin with a DE value of less than 5 is preferably highly branched-chain cyclic dextrin because it reduces the stickiness caused by the inclusion of dextrin. Highly branched-chain cyclic dextrin is obtained by treating starch with a branching enzyme (a enzyme that causes glycosyltransferase reactions), and the dextrin molecule has a partially cyclic structure (it has a highly branched-chain cyclic structure, which is different from cyclodextrin, where one end of a straight-chain glucose molecule is joined to form a ring). Highly branched-chain cyclic dextrin is commercially available, and for example, Cluster Dextrin (registered trademark) from Glico Nutrition Foods Co., Ltd. can be used.

[0012] The dextrin content in the pasta sauce of the present invention, with a DE value of less than 5, is 0.1 to 5% by mass, preferably 0.4 to 2.8% by mass, and more preferably 0.8 to 2.0% by mass, relative to the total mass of the pasta sauce. When the dextrin content of the pasta sauce is within these ranges, it is possible to suppress the stretching of cooked pasta during frozen storage, and the thawing properties when heated are also good. Below 0.1% by mass, the effect is not sufficiently obtained, and above 5% by mass, the sliminess of the dextrin worsens the texture when eaten.

[0013] Dextrin with a DE value of less than 5 may be added at any stage in the pasta sauce manufacturing process. For example, the pasta sauce of the present invention may be obtained by appropriately adding it along with the ingredients of a normal pasta sauce during the manufacturing process of a pasta sauce by a conventional method, or the pasta sauce of the present invention may be obtained by first manufacturing a pasta sauce using ingredients other than dextrin by a conventional method and then adding dextrin.

[0014] The pasta sauce of the present invention preferably has a moisture content of 60 to 95% by mass, more preferably 63 to 90% by mass. This moisture content enhances the effectiveness of the sauce. In this specification, the moisture content of the pasta sauce is determined by the following method of determining moisture content. The moisture content of the cooked pasta, described later, is also determined according to the following method of determining moisture content.

[0015] <How to determine moisture content> First, measure the mass of the sample (pasta sauce or cooked pasta). Next, dry the sample at 80°C for 12 hours according to the oven-drying method, and then measure the mass of the dried sample. The difference in mass before and after drying is the moisture content, and the moisture content is calculated as a percentage of the mass of the sample before drying.

[0016] In this invention, pasta sauce refers to a substance that has liquid or paste-like fluidity at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. "Room temperature and atmospheric pressure" here refers to the ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure in the environment in which pasta sauce is normally used (e.g., eaten), and is typically an environment with an ambient temperature of 25°C and an atmospheric pressure of 1 atmosphere. For example, if solid matter such as the ingredients described later is mixed in the sauce, as in meat sauce, the portion excluding the solid matter is the pasta sauce as defined in this invention. Therefore, when determining the dextrin content and water content in the pasta sauce as described above, and the mass ratio of cooked pasta to pasta sauce as described later, if solid matter is mixed in the pasta sauce, these values ​​are determined using the pasta sauce after the solid matter has been removed. Specifically, to remove solid matter from pasta sauce, for example, the mixed pasta sauce and solid matter can be passed through a sieve with a mesh size of 5 mm, and the portion that falls to the bottom of the sieve by its own weight after placing the pasta sauce on the sieve for 5 minutes can be used as the pasta sauce.

[0017] The pasta sauce of the present invention is applied to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen together with the cooked pasta for use. This yields a frozen pasta food product containing frozen cooked pasta and frozen portions of the pasta sauce of the present invention applied to its surface. The cooked pasta to which the pasta sauce of the present invention is applied is pasta that has been boiled. The pasta used for boiling may be fresh pasta or dried pasta. Fresh pasta is made by preparing pasta dough from pasta raw materials using conventional methods and shaping it into various pasta shapes. It is pasta that has not been dried after shaping, and its moisture content in its uncooked state is generally about 38 to 46% by mass. Dried pasta is made by drying fresh pasta, and its moisture content in its uncooked state is generally about 10 to 15% by mass.

[0018] The type of pasta is not particularly limited; commonly eaten pastas such as long pasta, short pasta, and sheet pasta can be used. Specific examples of long pasta include spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, and bucatini. Specific examples of short pasta include macaroni, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, conchiglie, farfalle, ravioli, and tortelli. Specific examples of sheet pasta include lasagna.

[0019] Pasta can be cooked by conventional methods, typically by adding it to a large amount of boiling water and heating it. To provide pre-cooked pasta with the appropriate firmness, the pre-cooked pasta contained in frozen pasta products preferably has a moisture content of 55-70% by mass, more preferably 57-67% by mass, and even more preferably 59-65% by mass. When cooking the pasta, it is best to boil it to achieve this moisture content. In this specification, the moisture content of the pre-cooked pasta is the value obtained by the method described above in <Method for Determining Moisture Content>.

[0020] Frozen pasta food can be produced by freezing the cooked pasta with the pasta sauce of the present invention attached to its surface. At the time the pasta sauce is attached, the cooked pasta may be in a non-frozen or frozen state.

[0021] When applying the pasta sauce of the present invention to the surface of cooked pasta, the ratio of cooked pasta to the pasta sauce of the present invention is not particularly limited. However, a ratio that allows the effects of the present invention to be fully obtained and is suitable for consumption is preferably a mass ratio (cooked pasta:pasta sauce) of 5:1 to 1:4, more preferably 4:1 to 1:3.

[0022] The method for applying the pasta sauce of the present invention to the surface of cooked pasta is not particularly limited and can be selected according to the desired form of pasta food. Specifically, the sauce may be applied to the surface of cooked pasta by coating the entire cooked pasta with the sauce, as in Neapolitan spaghetti; or the sauce may be applied to the surface of cooked pasta by placing the sauce on top of the cooked pasta, as in meat sauce spaghetti; or the sauce may be applied to the surface of cooked pasta by immersing the cooked pasta in a relatively large amount of sauce, as in gratin.

[0023] Furthermore, the method of freezing cooked pasta after the pasta sauce of the present invention has been applied to it is not particularly limited and any conventional method can be used, but preferably, rapid freezing at a refrigerant temperature of -30 degrees Celsius or lower can further suppress the expansion of cooked pasta during frozen storage. Rapid freezing means freezing the food so that the core temperature of the food passes through the temperature range of -1°C to -5°C (the maximum ice crystal formation temperature range) in a short time. The freezing time in rapid freezing (the time the core temperature of the food is in the maximum ice crystal formation temperature range) is not particularly limited and can be adjusted appropriately depending on the type of pasta sauce to be frozen, but typically, it is preferably within 30 minutes, more preferably 5 to 25 minutes. Also, refrigerant refers to a medium that exchanges heat with the food to be frozen and cools the food. Examples of refrigerants used in rapid freezing include cold air and liquid nitrogen.

[0024] The aforementioned frozen pasta food may further contain other ingredients in addition to the cooked pasta and the pasta sauce of the present invention. Other ingredients include ingredients and toppings. The types of ingredients and toppings are not particularly limited, and depending on the type of pasta sauce and the desired flavor and texture, meats, seafood, vegetables (root vegetables, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, etc.) can be used.

[0025] The frozen pasta food is typically contained in a container with the pasta sauce of the present invention adhering to the surface of the cooked pasta, and then frozen. The container is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of storing this type of cooked food, and for example, a plastic, paper, metal, or ceramic container can be used. Since the present invention deals with food that is stored frozen, it is not necessary to ensure the highest level of airtightness or sealing performance as long as it does not degrade the quality of the food or affect its shelf life. From the viewpoint of container cost, variety of variations, and the ability to store frozen pasta in an aesthetically pleasing manner, it is preferable to use a plastic or paper container.

[0026] The aforementioned frozen pasta food can be stored and distributed frozen in its container. The storage temperature is, for example, -50°C to -5°C, preferably -40°C to -15°C, and it can be stored frozen using a standard freezing device. When consuming, the pasta food can be eaten after being removed from the freezing device and heated and thawed in a microwave oven or the like.

[0027] This disclosure encompasses the following embodiments: (1) A pasta sauce that is attached to the surface of cooked pasta and used by freezing together with the cooked pasta, the pasta sauce containing 0.1 to 5% by mass of dextrin with a DE value of less than 5. (2) The pasta sauce according to (1), the pasta sauce according to (1), the pasta sauce according to (1) or (2), wherein the dextrin with a DE value of less than 5 is highly branched chain cyclic dextrin. (4) The pasta sauce according to any one of (1) to (3), the pasta sauce according to any one of (1) to (3), the pasta sauce according to any one of (1) to (4), the pasta sauce attached to the surface of the cooked pasta, is frozen. (6) The cooked pasta contains 0.4 to 2.8% by mass of dextrin with a DE value of less than 5. [7] A method for producing frozen pasta food, comprising applying the pasta sauce described in any one of [1] to [4] above to the surface of cooked pasta and rapidly freezing it at a refrigerant temperature of -30 degrees Celsius or lower. [8] A method for producing the pasta sauce described in any one of [1] to [4] above, the frozen pasta food described in [5] or [6] above, or the frozen pasta food described in [7] above, wherein when the pasta sauce is applied to the surface of the cooked pasta, the ratio of the cooked pasta to the pasta sauce is 5:1 to 1:4 as a mass ratio (cooked pasta:pasta sauce).

[0028] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the following examples, "%" is based on mass unless otherwise specified.

[0029] [Examples 1-4, Comparative Examples 1-2] Using commercially available dried spaghetti (long pasta) and commercially available tomato sauce, frozen pasta food (pre-cooked frozen tomato sauce spaghetti) was manufactured according to the following procedure. A predetermined amount of dried spaghetti was boiled while adjusting the boiling time as appropriate to obtain pre-cooked spaghetti with a moisture content of 62%. Separately, dextrin was added to commercially available tomato sauce (moisture content 87%) according to the sauce formulation described in Table 1 and stirred well to obtain pasta sauce (dextrin-containing tomato sauce). The moisture content of the pre-cooked spaghetti and pasta sauce was measured according to the method for determining moisture content described above. The dextrin used is as follows. - Dextrin 1 (DE value 3): Manufactured by Glico Nutrition Foods, Cluster Dextrin (registered trademark), highly branched chain cyclic dextrin - Dextrin 2 (DE value 3.5): Sanwa Starch Co., Ltd. Sandec #100 - Dextrin 3 (DE value 4): Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Pinex #100 - Dextrin 4 (DE value 7): Sanwa Starch Co., Ltd. Sandec #70FN

[0030] Next, 100g of the pre-cooked spaghetti and 100g of dextrin-containing tomato sauce were placed in a commercially available heat-resistant polypropylene container and mixed thoroughly to ensure the sauce adhered well to the surface of the spaghetti, thus creating pre-cooked tomato sauce spaghetti. After covering the container, the containers were frozen under the conditions of -20°C for 33 minutes in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, and rapidly frozen under the conditions of -30°C for 25 minutes in Example 4, to obtain frozen pasta food (pre-cooked frozen tomato sauce spaghetti). Cold air was used as the refrigerant in each example and comparative example.

[0031] [Test Example 1] The frozen pasta foods of each example and comparative example were stored in a freezer at -20°C for 24 hours. After being removed from the freezer, they were heated in a microwave oven at 500W. During heating, the temperature of the frozen pasta food was measured every 10 seconds using an infrared camera, and the heating time required for the entire surface of the frozen pasta food to reach 70°C or higher was recorded. The results are shown in Table 1. The resulting tomato sauce spaghetti was tasted by 10 expert panelists, who evaluated the texture of the spaghetti and the mouthfeel of the pasta sauce according to the evaluation criteria below. The results are shown in Table 1 as the average values ​​of the 10 panelists.

[0032] <Spaghetti Texture Evaluation Criteria> 5 points: Has elasticity and bite, comparable to freshly boiled spaghetti, very good. 4 points: Inferior to freshly boiled spaghetti, but has elasticity and bite, good. 3 points: Slightly too soft or slightly too hard, but within acceptable limits. 2 points: Slightly too soft or slightly too hard, poor. 1 point: Too soft or too hard, very poor.

[0033] <Evaluation Criteria for Pasta Sauce Texture> 5 points: Compared to pasta sauce without dextrin, no change in sliminess is felt, very good. 4 points: Compared to pasta sauce without dextrin, sliminess is slightly increased, but good. 3 points: Compared to pasta sauce without dextrin, an increase in sliminess is felt, but within an acceptable range. 2 points: Compared to pasta sauce without dextrin, sliminess is felt strongly, poor. 1 point: Compared to pasta sauce without dextrin, sliminess is felt very strongly, very poor.

[0034]

[0035] [Examples 5-10 and Comparative Examples 3-4] Frozen pasta food was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the amount of dextrin 1 was changed as shown in Table 2, and evaluated in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 2. Note that the results for Example 1 are also reproduced in Table 2.

[0036]

[0037] According to the present invention, when pasta sauce is applied to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen to produce frozen pasta food, the deterioration of quality due to stretching of the cooked pasta during frozen storage is suppressed, and the good texture of the cooked pasta can be maintained.

Claims

1. A pasta sauce that is applied to the surface of cooked pasta and frozen together with the cooked pasta for use, and which contains 0.1 to 5% by mass of dextrin with a DE value of less than 5.

2. The pasta sauce according to claim 1, comprising 0.4 to 2.8% by mass of dextrin with a DE value of less than 5.

3. The pasta sauce according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dextrin with a DE value of less than 5 is a highly branched-chain cyclic dextrin.

4. A frozen pasta food product comprising cooked pasta and the pasta sauce according to claim 1 or 2 adhering to the surface of the cooked pasta, which is then frozen.

5. A method for producing frozen pasta food, comprising applying the pasta sauce of claim 1 or 2 to the surface of cooked pasta and rapidly freezing it at a refrigerant temperature of -30 degrees Celsius or lower.

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