Surimi Production in Home

What is Surimi?

Artificial crab meat or Surimi

Surimi is a wet frozen concentrate of mayofibrillar proteins of fish muscle. It is originated in Japan. Surimi is typically made from lean meat of the fish. 95% of the world surimi is made from Alaska Pollock and Hake. In addition to that cod, sharks, rays, rock fish, dog fish, sardines and squid can be used. Selected fish should have about 70% myofibrillar proteins. This myofibrillar protein is important for textural qualities, fibrousness, water holding capacity, gel forming ability and plasticity. 

Basic Steps in Surimi Production

Do you want to prepare surimi in home in your style. In this article give basic guideline for surimi production and you can follow this. 

1. You should select cheap, lean (without fat) and fresh fish
2. Fish should be eviscerated (heading, gutting and filleting)
3. Mechanical deboning or mincing of fish fillets
4. Washing of the mince   fish  to extract water soluble proteins, lipids, pigments, enzymes and other undesired fractions
5. Refining or sieving to remove small skin and bone fragments and other impurities
6. Water removal from the mince by either pressing using cloth or centrifugation
7. Egg white, salt, vegetable oil, corn flour, sugar, seasonings (You can use curry powders or flavors powders given in different products such as Instant noodles) are incorporated in to above meat mixture. Seasonings should contribute to savory taste. Sugar or sorbitol should add as cryoprotectants. In addition to that MSG and water insoluble carmine and paprika also used to enhance flavor and color repectvely.
8. Then mixture is added in to mould and steam the product.
9. After that package the product and kept it in freezer

Surimi can be used to produce salads, appertizers, sandwiches, pastry fillings and soups etc.

Surimi incorporated salad 

Surimi forms thermo irreversible gels upon heating 30-40 0C unfolding of a – helics in myosin molecules above 50 0C interaction occur in myosin molecules (Heat curing). Gelation of surimi is largely depend on appropriate interactions between adjacent myosin molecules. Inter molecular linkages formed by hydrogen and hydrophobic bonds along with disulphide bonds involved in gel formation of surimi. 

Other factors effect on gel strength

• Proteolytic degradation of myofibrillar proteins – detrimential effect on surimi quality which lower the gel strength
• Muscle proteinases – especially cysteine endoproteinases and cathepsins B, H, L are thermo stable and stability to cleave internal peptide bonds producing shorter peptide chains.
• Increase in surimi gel strength due to transglutaminase activity – cross linking of myosin molecules 

Surimi is a much enjoyed food product in many Asian culture and is available in many shapes, forms and textures and colors of the meat of lobster, crab and other shell fish. The most common surimi product in the western market is imitation crab meat. Crab shell extracts use to mince fish meat and form imitation crab meat or surimi. Such a product often is sold as imitation crab, seafood sticks or crab sticks and its price is comparatively lower than original crab meat. 

Crab sticks