MFR PAPER 1020

Head and gut fish , separate flesh from the skeletons, wash and de water, strain, and add flavoring . That is the simplified recipe for . ..

Surimi-A Semi-Processed Wet Fish Protein

DAVID MIYAUCHI, GEORGE KUDO , and MAX PATASHNIK

ABSTRACT

Th e de velopmellt oj th e technology j or preparing surillli, a sellli-processed \V et fish proteill, was responsible jor th e rapid illcrease in th e produ c ti on oj " Kalllo­bok o"-t y pe prodll cts ill Japan. By being processed illto sllrilll i , the fis h lII uscle proteins retaill jor a longer tilll e th e junctional properties reqllired jor lIlaking good " Kalllabok o" alld fi sh sausages. Th e preparatioll procedure and jacrors ajjectill g th e qllality ojsllrillli are desc ribed.

INTRODUCTION

In the preceding paper on "Kama­boko", the rapid increase in the pro­duction of "Kamaboko" -type products in Japan to over I million metric to ns in 1970 was cited . This increase was m ade possible to a large extent by J apanese fishery scientists who devel­oped the technology for preparing surimi , a semi-processed wet fis h pro­tein. In preparing surimi , the initial process steps are identical to those for preparing "Kamaboko": heading, gutting, a nd was hin g the flesh ; sep­a ra tin g th e fis h muscle from skin and bones; washin g and dewatering the minced muscle ; and stra ining. In the final process step , the strained muscle is mi xed with various additives to stab ili ze th e fis h proteins during frozen storage . This mi xture is packaged a nd frozen into rectangular surimi blocks .

The muscle proteins of many species of fis h lose their "Kamaboko" -forming

properties very rapidl y o nce they are frozen . However, when th e muscl e is processed into surimi befo re freezing, the muscl e prote ins re ta in for a signi f­icantly longer time the funct io na l properti es required fo r m aki ng hi gh quality " Kamaboko" and fish sausages. Until th e procedure fo r maki ng surimi was deve loped , the produ c ti on of each " Ka ma boko" processing pl ant was limited by the amount o f fis h muscle it cou ld obtain from fresh fish . N ow , " Kama bo ko" processin g pl a nts ca n stockpil e th eir raw ma te ri a l to ass ure fu ll -scale productio n throughout th e year. The surimi pl ants, which h ave been built in po rts cl ose to th e fishing grounds, a re mecha ni zed fo r th e e f­fici ent handling and processin g o f th e fish into surimi . The compact fr ozen surimi block as a ready-to-use inte r­medi ate raw mate ri a l is more econo mi­cal fo r shippin g to a nd sto rin g a t th e " Kam a boko" pl ants in th e large r citi es than are whole fi sh .

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The frozen surimi industry ta rt cd in th e no rth e rn J a panese is land of Hokka ido o n a m a ll sca le in 1960 but expanded greatl y when equ ipmen t to produce surimi was insta ll ed aboa rd factory ships ope ra tin g in th e o rth Pacific and Be rin g Sea (Sa ka i. 1969). The producti o n of surimi was 87,000 me tric tons in 1967 and in c reased to 292 ,000 metric to ns by 1970 (Zaida n H ojin N orin T oke i Kyo ka i, 197 1). O f th e 1970 producti o n , th e shore pla nts in H o kka ido and th e T oho ku d i tri ct in no rth e rn H o nshu produced 153 .000 me tri c to ns o f suri mi a nd fac tory ships produced 139,000 metri c to ns. prim aril y in th e Be rin g Sea.

PROCEDURE FOR MAKING SURIMI

The procedure fo r makin g su rimi from Al as ka po ll ock in a typica l modern process i ng pla nt is descri bed below .

Heading and Gutting Fish

A las ka po ll ock a re headed and gut ­ted by machine. Complete rem ova l o f th e viscera , spine . and blac k. pe rito­neum is required to produ ce a hi gh qua lity fi ni shed product. The fi sh a re taken by conveyor to a drum-type washe r to rem ove slime. sca le , blood . bits o f visce ra , and other ext ra neous materi a l.

Separation of Flesh

F ro m th e was her, th e headed-and­gutted fis h are take n by co nveyor to th e fi rst fl esh-separato r machine . T here th e fis h pass between a press and a pe r ­fora ted d ru m . The re la ti vely soft mus­cl e is forced through th e ho le to the

David Mi yauchi , George Kudo, and Max P a tashnik are on the staff of the P acific Fisher) Products T echnolog} C enter, National Marine Fisheri es Service, NO AA, 2725 Montlake 81 vd. E., Seattl e, W A 98 t 12.

11,,"k "I Ill,' dlul11 I Ill' h"IIl' , '~"I ,ll1d "dlll'llll . Ik,h 11'111,1111 ,'11 I h ' l'UI

"dl' "I Ilh' ,IIUlll "Ild .ll~ .. 1.11' ',1 1·11

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Ik h-II.I Illn ' t \11k

Washing and Dewatertng the Minced Flesh

hill II 'It r

\\ <.lter con ent 01 the JC\\ at~rc I about .. 6 per ent

Straining the Flesh

Th" I11lncell tle,h " then I J Ihrollt.:h a I~esh 'trainer 1\ hlch re illll I e, ,111.111 bone, conncctilc ti"uc, hlac~ ,I-in partIcles. scalc~, anLl tenllnn"

Mixing With Additives

The trai ned flesh IS ml '\ell I n a food mixer or si lent cutter "Ith aLlllltl\'e~

A

riO •• 'Of AI •••• polloct. ('11-' ",_ urlml A ••

minute until lInl I he l~mperdluH' I the 011 lure mu I h· hpt be" 1\ 0 I (I (I

Packaging and Freezing

'>Ufll111 I' r,t"~<." J 111 I l_~ lInll In

h, th 1"" <."1 hI I~n~ ba' .InJ 111 frl Ie n '""J c.lrt,'n .lnLl Ir'll~n In honz )nlal rl.lle treoa , \Iter IJeeZln~, thL" re

rlLl-cLl tl'" hl"d" ra f1la,t~r "art,'n '>U rlJlli ,hl)lI III he ,t,)rL'O .11 (l I ,lr 111\\ e r

'In .. e Ih ,t,)rage lite LlerenJ, I'n 1,'r.l:e lemperature" I- )r e'\ampk. the ,tlHage life of \ la,l-a pl)lIl)ch: lIrtml at I .. I-1- 10 () I~ ahl)lIt 2 Il1l1nth, hut at

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VI I •• ' e bt eel '" t • 11 e 0

t I

DIFFERENT GRADES OF SURIMI

\ I ", hl~ her m)1 lUre " fllent t r the ". he I rho h permllted Ii

the .11111 lint 1'1 t.lr"h II cJ I' Inerea cd tha l,b)c,,"IC YU.tiltl Ie h th.il ma)

h.:: II eJ InciuJ.:: I11ca,Urcl11ent f,)r rc,tllcnce. r H , anJ "hitl.:ne .,

u.s. INTEREST IN PRODUCING SURIMI

In view of the continuing high Japanese demand for surimi to be used in "Kamaboko", fish sausage and ham , and the prospects of re laxat ion of import restnctlOn by Japan, interest has been expressed by some fisherie groups in the potential of producing surimi in the United States for export. Some of the factors that should be considered by interested groups from the technical aspects of producing urimi have been given in this paper

and in the preceding paper on "K ama­boko". Factors for initial con ideration a re summarized here .

Fish Raw Material

The inherent "Kamaboko"-forming capability (elas tic characteristic or gel-forming capacity) of fish muscle proteins varies from species to species as does the rate of loss of thi "Kama­boko"-forming capability during iced torage of the fish. For a gi ven species,

factors such as freshness of the fish , age and sexual maturity , eason, area of ca tch , etc., may affect its "Kama-

boko"-forming capability . Thus, each species must be tested for its uitability . For economical processing, the fish 'must be avai lable in abunda nt quan­tities through out a long sea on.

Processing Equipment

Commerci a l equipment available for surimi production includes fl esh separators. washers , dewaterers , and strainers. Heading-and-gutting ma­chines have been designed and are avail able for such species as Ala ka pollock , now used for surimi produc­tion . All unwanted soft material (i.e., kidney, bits of viscera, dark membrane lining the visceral cavity) that could be sepa rated from skin and bone together with the fish muscle must be rem oved before the fish is pa ed through the flesh sepa rator. For example, the J apanese have developed machines th at remove the Alaska pol­lock's belly flaps , which are lined with a black peritoneum , and the backbone. Simi larly, any species suitable for surimi production must lend itself to rapid and economical heading, gutting, and removal of soft extraneou material.

Quality Standards

To produce surimi that meel~ the quality standard now u ed by the Ja panese surimi manufacturer ' a OCI­

ation will require close quality control. High standards of anitation are re­quired throu ghout the processing plant owing to the opportunity for bacterial contamination of the minced fi h mus­cle during the various processing teps and because final "Kamaboko"-type products have o nl y a limited helf life . The Japanese have demon trated that a high quality surimi can b pro­duced by u ing good manufacturing practices.

LITERATURE CITED

Anonymous. 1971. Zusetsu Gyogyo HaJ..u ho (Illustrated Fisherie White Paper for 1971.) 111 ZaIdan Hojm Orin ToJ..el Kyokai (Agric. For. Co p. Found.l. Tokyo. Japan , 319 p.

Iwata, K., K. Kanna, S. Umemoto, and M. Okada. 1971. Study of the quality of frozen sto red Alaska pollack 5l1rillll-1. The influence of freshness of the material and changes in storage temperature. Bull. Jap. Soc. Sci . Fish . 37:626-633.

Nishiya, K. 1963. Special Report of Sym­posium on Cold Storage of Fi h Meat. Meeting Jap. Soc. Sci. Fi h .. Oct. 10, p. 211.

Sakai , K. 1969. Japanese factory ship~ meet big demand for minced pollock. hsh. News Int. 8(9): 15 - 16.

MFR Paper 1020. From Marine Fisheries Review, Vol . 35, No. 12, December 1973. Copies of this paper, in limited numbers , are available from 083, Technical In­formation Divisio n, Environmental Science Information Center, NOAA, Washington, DC 20235.

The ational Marine Fisheries Service ( MFS) does not approve. rec­ommend or endorse any proprietary product o r proprietary materi al mentioned in this publicati on. 0 reference shall be made to NMFS, or to thi s publication furnished by MFS, in any advertising or ales pro­motion which would indicate or imply that NMFS approves. recommends or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein. or which has as its purpose an intent to cau e directl} or indirectl } the advert ised product to be u ed or purchased becau e of this , MFS publication.

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