UNIT 3 UTILIZATION Storage and Shelf Life

Structure 3.0 Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Product Formulation 3.3 Fish Wafers 3.3.1 Fricola 3.4 Fish Fingers 3.5 Fish Cutlets 3.6 Fish Cakes 3.7 Fish Balls 3.8 Fish Noodles 3.9 Fish Sausages 3.10 Fish Patties 3.11 Let Us Sum Up 3.12 Glossary 3.13 Suggested Further Reading 3.14 References 3.15 Answers to Check Your Progress

3.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit, you will be able to:  summarise the uses of fish mince in product formulation; and  analyze the various recipes and discuss the preparation of fish wafers, fish fingers, fish balls, fish cutlets, fish cakes, fish sausages and fish patties.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Current production of fish mince amounts to more than 6,00,000 tonnes. This is mostly from commercial under utilized pelagic and by-catch species. A number of products are prepared from fish mince. During the last few decades, minced fish has established itself as a new item for trade. This has resulted in preparation of draft code of practice by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Fish mince serves as a major source of raw material for the preparation of various traditional products. These include fish wafers, fish fingers, cutlets, balls, noodles, fish sausages, fish cakes etc. All these products are value added products fetching good price for the producers. These products are easily stored, easily prepared and thus consumer friendly.

3.2 PRODUCT FORMULATION

You will be surprised to know that fish mince is the starting material for several fish based products. These products are all popular among the consumers. They 27 Fish Mince are fish cutlets, fish balls, fish wafers, fish fingers, fish cakes, etc. Such products are regularly being prepared using vegetables and meat. In this unit, each one of these products are discussed in detail. Table 3.1 below shows the suitability of various tropical fish for the production of different fish mince products.

Table 3.1: Suitability of Tropical Fish for Production of Different Fish Mince Products

Cutlet : Jew Fish, lizard fish, thread fin bream (Fig.3.1)

Fish balls : Ribbon fish, mixed by-catch (Fig. 3.1)

Fish fingers : Perches, miscellaneous fish (Fig.3.1)

Fish sausages : Catfish, croaker, ribbon fish (Fig.3.1)

Fish Patties : Catfish (Fig.3.1)

Lizard fish Croaker Priacanthus

Carangid Sardine Thread fin bream

Ribbon fish Mackerel Catfish

Fig.3.1: Fishes suitable for mince based products

3.3 FISH WAFERS

Using fish mince as the base, different products can be prepared. One such product is fish wafers. This section deals with the raw materials, preparation and packing of fish wafers.

28 a) Raw Materials Utilization Fish mince prepared from low fat fishes such as Thread fin breams (Nemipterus japonicus), Croaker (Johnius soldado), Jew fish (Sciaena aneus), Perches (Lutjanus spp.) etc. are used. Refined tapioca starch, corn starch, refined salt, refined deodorized groundnut oil are the other required ingredients.

Preparation of Slurry

Cook the fish mince in water

Take cooked meat, tapioca starch and corn starch in the ratio 2:2:1

Grind the cooked meat in a wet food grinder by adding water

Grind into a fine paste after adding starch and 40% salt (on the weight of meat) b) Preparation of fish wafers

Apply a thin layer of oil on aluminium trays (30 × 24 cm).

Pour the slurry into the trays

Tilt the trays to spread the paste uniformly

Gelatinize the paste by keeping exposed to steam for 2 minutes

Take out the trays, cool in air

Cut the cooked layer into desired shape

Pack it in polyester/polyethylene laminate bags

The packed material should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated room protected from rodents and insects. c) Using Tapioca in the preparation of Wafers Tapioca (cassava) is available in plenty in Kerala state. This can be used for the preparation of delicious wafers. In this process, tapioca starch is first prepared and then mixed with fish mince. Cassava (tapioca) starch is prepared from fresh cassava. Fresh tapioca are washed with water and hand-peeled. The peeled tubers are mechanically grated and blended in a Waring blender with three times the quantity of water. The blended material is strained through a linen cloth (mesh about 50), through which starch and water pass leaving a residual portion on the cloth. This starchy slurry is then allowed to settle for two to three hours. When completely settled, the starch is in the form of a thick paste and the supernatant 29 Fish Mince liquid is siphoned off. At this stage, the starch contains about 50% moisture, and it can be used as is or after drying. d) Procedure Prepare Cassava starch in wet form

Mix it with minced meat in 1:1 ratio. Add salt for taste

Break the blend into small pieces by passing it through an 8 mesh stainless steel sieve

Granulate it into a globule form using a reciprocating-type mechanical shaker after partial gelatinization

Arrange in single, compact circular layers (2 inches in diameter) in a mould block sprayed with a fine mist of water

Steam it to gelatinize the starch content

Dry the wafer in a through-flow drier to a moisture content of 5 to 6% at 45° to 50°C.

After drying, detach the wafers from the mould

Pack it in polythene bags These wafers can be fried in an edible fat for a few seconds until they expand and become very crisp and can thus be used as a snack. A small amount of shrimp muscle can be incorporated into the mixture. If higher amount is added it will affect the granulation properties. 3.3.1 Fricola Fricola is a wafer like product. Here, cooked rice is incorporated. Preparation Cook the minced fish muscle

Blend it with cooked rice in 3:1 ratio

Add suitable quantity of shredded coconut (4% on dry basis of the product)

Flavour the blend with vanilla

Dry it in the form of thin flakes on a stainless steel roller (30 psi steam pressure)

Remove the pieces of bone in the dried product by passing it through 8 and 16 mesh sieves.

Store and use as and when needed 30 The product has an attractive white colour and is almost free of fish smell. It has Utilization 35% protein content and available lysine content is of the order of 9% of total protein. It is effective in treatment of mild cases of kwashiorkor.

The consumer adds liquid in the form of water or milk to yield a porridge-like product on heating. Children enjoy it after sugar is added.

3.4 FISH FINGERS

Fish fingers (Fig.3.2) are delicious products prepared from fish mince. The product has a finger like appearance and hence the name fish fingers. Fingers are subjected to battering and breading. This is followed by frying. The frozen fingers can be warmed up in a microwave oven. This is a ready-to-eat product. a) Ingredients Ingredients for fish fingers are based on minced fish. White flesh fish 50%, wheat flour, vegetable oil, starch, yeast, paprika and sodium glutamate. b) Preparation

Mix the fish mince and the ingredients in a silent cutter (Wheat flour, vegetable oil, starch, yeast, paprika and sodium glutamate)

Form it into rectangular fingers of size 7.5×2×1.5 cm

Freeze the rectangular fingers using a plate freezer

Pass the fingers through a batter mix

Roll on the battered fingers through bread crumbs

If needed, apply a second coating of batter and breading

Fry the product in oil for a very short time in hot oil at 108-185°C for 10 seconds

Allow to cool

Pack the fingers in polystyrene/polyethylene moulded trays and seal

Store in cold storage at –23°C or below

31 Fish Mince

Fig. 3.2: Fish fingers ? Check Your Progress 1 Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided. b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit. 1) How much is the current production of fish mince? ...... 2) Which are mince based products? ...... 3) Which are the fish most suitable for the production of fish cutlets? ...... 4) Which are the raw materials for the production of fish wafers? ...... 5) What is Fricola? ...... 6) Which are the ingredients used for fish finger production? ......

32 Utilization 3.5 FISH CUTLETS

This is the product which can be prepared from whole fish or fish mince. Fish cutlet (Fig. 3.3) is a highly accepted consumer product both for urban and rural people. Fish cutlets are prepared by many companies in commercial scale and are available throughout the country in major supermarkets and other retail outlets. a) Recipe Ingredients Weight in g Minced meat (raw) 1000 Cooked, peeled potatoes 300 Peeled chopped onions 150 Common salt 30 Ginger pieces 15 Green chillies – chopped 10 Pepper powder 2 Clove powder 2 Turmeric powder 2 Refined vegetable oil 100 ml

Fig. 3.3: Fish cutlet b) Preparation Cook the fish and separate the meat

Cook the potatoes, peel and mash them

Add the cooked fish mince, salt and turmeric powder and other ingredients vide the recipe

Soft fry in a frying pan using vegetable oil 33 Fish Mince This may be added to the mashed potato-fish mix and mixed well (If spicy cutlets are to be prepared add spice mix at this stage and mix well)

Mould 40 g mix into round shape of around 2 cm thickness

They are then dipped in batter and rolled over breadcrumbs

The battered and breaded fish cutlets are flash fried in vegetable oil maintained at 160°-170°C for five seconds

Pack it in consumer packets and store under –20°C

Cutlets are to be deep fried prior to consuming

The fish cutlet can be stored for a period of 6 months at –20°C

3.6 FISH CAKES

Fish cakes (Fig. 3.4) are similar products as fish cutlets. Fish cakes are battered and breaded and subjected to flash frying. The products are subjected to frozen storage.

Fig. 3.4: Fish cakes a) Recipe Ingredients Weight in% Minced fish 50 Chilled water 30 Chopped Onion 15 Onion flakes 2 Vegetable oil 2 Salt 0.5 Monosodium glutamate 34 (MSG) (optional) 0.5 b) Preparation Utilization Take the minced fish

Mix it with chopped additives/ingredients

Keep it in forming machine

Remove the formed product from forming machine (Cakes of different shapes)

Coat it with batter

Take the battered product

Coat it with bread crumbs or breading powder

Battered and breaded product is obtained

Flash fry it in edible vegetable oil for 0.5 to 1 minute

Fish cakes are obtained 3.7 FISH BALLS

Fish balls are very similar to fish cakes but they are shaped in the form of balls. The composition of ingredients varies from country to country. A wide range of formulations are seen in literature. Fish mince is mixed with various ingredients and then formed either by hand or forming machines into balls. The balls are then battered and breaded and kept under frozen storage. Fish balls can also be flash fried like fish fingers in order to be highly sterile. It is always sold as frozen material (Fig.3.5). In Philippines, fish balls after forming are heat processed at two stages to enhance binding and increasing crispiness. For this, starch is added along with baking powder. Battering and breading processes are avoided in this type of fish balls.

Fig.3.5: Frozen fish balls 35 Fish Mince The two methods of preparing fish balls are described below (Based on Philippines as well as the Southern Asian Method - Brunei Darussalam)

a) Recipe Philippines’ method Southern Asian Method (Brunei Darussalam) Ingredients Quantity (%) Ingredients Quantity (%) Minced fish 94 Minced fish 55% Corn starch 3.0 Water 15% Baking powder 1 Chopped carrots 14 Salt 1.5 Tempura bread crumbs 5% MSG 0.5 Spring onions 3% Edible oil 2% Onion flakes 2% Garlic powder 1.8% Salt 1.2% Pepper 0.5% MSG 0.5%

b) Procedure i) Phillipines’ Method

Take minced fish

Add the required ingredients

Mix thoroughly

Forming

Fish Balls

Pre-heating (Set at 30-40°C for 20 minutes)

Heat for 20 minutes at 90-100°C

Fish Balls (Final Product)

36 ii) Southern Asian Method (Brunei Darussalam) Utilization

Take minced fish

Add the required ingredients

Mix thoroughly

Forming

Fish Balls

Battering

Battered Fish Balls

Breading

Battered and Breaded balls

? Check Your Progress 2 Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided. b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit. 1) What is the storage life of fish cutlets? ...... 2) What is the difference between fish cakes and fish cutlet? ...... 3) Why starch is added along with baking powder in the preparation of fish balls? ......

3.8 FISH NOODLES

Mostly, urban people in many countries consume fish noodles. One advantage now-a-days is that, noodles can be prepared by extrusion when in small scale as a domestic process for low-income group. Fish mince or surimi is the raw material. The fish meat is mixed with flour of cereals like wheat, soya, rice etc. and other 37 Fish Mince ingredients. The paste is extruded as noodles, cooked and consumed. Starch is an important binder cum adhesive. It gelatinizes the noodles on cooking.

a) Recipe Fish mince 35-40% Cereal flour 50-55% Salt 2.5-3% Water* 1-2%

* Amount of water content required may vary depending upon the content of starch and moisture of fish mince.

b) Preparation

Take minced fish or Surimi

Mix it thoroughly with the required ingredients

Take the mixed fish mince

Put it in silent cutter or mincer

Make it into a thick smooth paste

Put it in an extruder (Twin screw extruder)

Noodles

Cook under steam (20 minutes)

Gelatinized cooked noodles

Dry under sun/mechanical drier

Fish noodles

3.9 FISH SAUSAGES

Sausages are popular products in South East Asian countries. Fish sausage (Fig.3.6) is a product in which fish flesh is mixed with additives, stuffed into suitable casings and heat processed. Mince from both freshwater and marine species has been shown to be useful in sausage making. Smoking can also be employed to enhance flavour. A typical recipe for fish sausage is given in below:

38 a) Recipe Utilization Ingredients Quantity in % Minced fish meat 70.0 Salt 2.5 Sugar 1.5 Polyphosphate 0.2 Monosodium glutamate (MSG) 0.2 Spice mixture (Pepper, coriander, To taste ginger, garlic, etc.) Colour solution 0.1 Corn starch 9.0 Crushed ice 10.0 Fat (vegetable, hydrogenated) 5.0 b) Preparation Take Fish mince

Mix it with fat

Mix it thoroughly with other ingredients in a silent cutter for 10-12 minutes (Maintain the temperature of the fish paste at 15-16°C during mixing by adding ice)

Stuff the fish paste into casing and seal it with aluminum wire using a ringing machine

Heat process the product at 90±2°C in a constant temperature water bath

Cool the product in chilled water

Heat it at 98-100°C for 30 seconds to remove wrinkles on the surface

Store at chilled temperature (6±2°C).

Fig. 3.6: Fish sausages 39 Fish Mince 3.10 FISH PATTIES

Fish patties are delicacies prepared from fish mince (Fig. 3.7). The ingredients required and the method of preparation are discussed below: a) Recipe

Ingredients Quantity Mince From White Fish (Snapper, Tuna) 500g Finely Chopped Ginger 1 tablespoon Chopped Onion 2 tablespoon Garlic, Minced Finely 1 clove Freshly Grated Nutmeg ¼ teaspoon Dried Shrimp Paste ½ teaspoon Fish Sauce 1 tablespoon Finely Ground Pepper 1 teaspoon Soya Sauce ½ tablespoon White Sugar 1 teaspoon

b) Preparation Place the mince, onion, ginger, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, soya sauce, brown sugar and pepper in a large mixing bowl

Gently combine, without over mixing, until evenly incorporated

Cover and refrigerate

Form the mince mixture into 6 patties, about 3/4 inch thick

Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat

Add the patties and cook until firm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes per side

Serve patties, each topped with a lettuce leaf into toasted or not hamburger bun if desired

40 Fig. 3.7: Fish patties Utilization ? Check Your Progress 3 Note: a) Write your answers within the space provided. b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit. 1) Which are the major steps included in the production of fish noodles? ...... 2) Which are the casings used for fish sausage production? ...... 3) Are fish patties cooked products? ......

Activity 1

Visit a local food bazaar / food mall. Make a list of the fish products sold in the mall. Ask the manager regarding the interest of the customers in purchasing such value added items. Compare the prices of these products with that of raw fish...... 3.11 LET US SUM UP  Fish mince serves as a major source of raw material for the preparation of various traditional products. These include fish wafers, fish cutlets, fish balls, fish fingers, fish cakes, fish sausages, etc. Fish wafers are similar products to that of potato wafers. In this product, along with cooked fish mince, tapioca starch and corn starch are used. When rice is incorporated for the production of fish wafers, the produce is known as Fricola. Fish fingers are delicious products prepared from fish mince and are very popular in fast food joints. Fish cutlet is a highly accepted consumer product both for urban and rural people. Fish cakes are similar products as fish cutlets. Fish balls are prepared from fish mince and the products are given a coating with batter and bread. Many companies are now producing fish balls in huge quantities. For the preparation of fish noodles, fish mince or surimi can be utilized. Fish sausages are popular products available in southern Asian countries. The importance of fish mince is very clearly visible on the various products which can be formulated from it. No wonder fish mince is a very important product of commerce in recent times.

41 Fish Mince 3.12 GLOSSARY

Flash Fryer : Frying in oil for a short time. Kwashiorkar : Disease caused by lack of protein in diet. Laminate : Two or more layers of plastic film. Paprika : A spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum (Shimla Mirch). Porridge : A dish made of oatmeal or other cereal, cooked in water or milk. Silent Cutter : A blending machine for mixing meat with other ingredients. Slurry : Semi-solid mass.

3.13 SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

Venugopal, V. 2006. Sea Food Processing. Taylor and Francis, USA.

3.14 REFERENCES

Doraiswamy, T.R., Shurpalekar, S.R., Moorjani, M.N., Lahiry, N.L. Shankaran, A.N., Swaminathan, M., Sreenivasan,A. and Subrahmanyan, V. 1963. “Fish Protein Food in Feeding Trials with School Children,” Indian J. Pediat, 30: 266.

Moorjani, M.N., Nair, R.B. and Lahiry, N.L. 1968. “Quality of Fish Protein Concentrates Prepared by Direct Extraction with Various Solvents,’ Food Technol., 22:1557.

Moorjani, M.N., Upadhye, A.N., Lahiry, N.L. and Parpia, Fricola, H.A.B. 1964. A Fish-Enriched Farinaceous Product, Paper presented to FAO Symposium, 26- 30 May, Humus, FRG.

Moorjani, M.N. 1970. “Processing of Protein-Enriched Wafers,” Food Technol., 24: 60.

Moorjani, M.N. 1975. “Soluble Fish Proteins’. Paper presented to a Symposium on the Fish Processing Industry in India, CFTRI, Mysore, 13-14 Feb.

Pereira, S.M., Isaca, T., Tewarson, B. and Dumm M.E., 1965. ‘’Processed Fish Protein (Fricola) in the Treatment of Kwashiorkor,” Indian J. Med. Res., 53:651.

3.15 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress 1

1) Current production of fish mince amounts to more than 6,00,000 tonnes annually.

2) Mince based products are fish wafers, fish fingers, fish cutlets, fish balls, fish noodles, fish cakes, fish patties and fish sausages. 42 3) The suitable varieties for fish cutlet production are Jew fish, Lizard fish and Utilization Thread fin breams.

4) Fish mince prepared from low fat fishes and refined tapioca starch, corn starch, refined salt, refined deodorized groundnut oil are the other required ingredients.

5) Fricola is a wafer like product. In this cooked rice is incorporated.

6) Ingredients for fish fingers are based on minced fish. White flesh fish 50%, wheat flour, vegetable oil, starch, yeast, paprika and sodium glutamate.

Check Your Progress 2

1) The storage life of fish cutlets is six months at -20°C.

2) The process for fish cutlets and fish cakes is more or less the same. However, the difference is in the ingredients used.

3) In Philippines, fish balls after forming are heat processed at two stages to enhance binding and increasing crispiness. For that starch is added along with baking powder.

Check Your Progress 3

1) Most important process of fish noodles production is extrusion using a twin- screw extruder.

2) The casings used can be natural casings or artificial casings.

3) Fish patties are cooked products.

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