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How to make crab sticks aslan wrote in March 12th, 2017

During an excursion to Singapore, for some reason our small but warm company of journalists was invited to inspect a fish ball factory. The meaning of visiting this factory did not immediately dawn on me - after all, not every food production factory would dare to show journalists what it is actually made of. But here everything was presented extremely honestly and frankly, so below is a short report with pictures.

Let's start with happy children. The children in the poster desperately demonstrate how much they love the factory's products. And by the way, they’re not lying - in numerous local cafes I observed analogues of these children, eating different versions of the balls with great appetite.

And there are really many versions, with many different flavors, additives, etc. Well, the packaging is quite nice.

The excursion began with a tasting. I don't think I'd want to try any of this again, but the taste is passable. Perhaps we’re just not used to this, and besides, we ate it without sauces, spices, etc. But if you pour it with something right, it might even be a delicacy.

To penetrate the secrets of the process, we go underground.

And we find ourselves in a forced sterilization room. Only those who have thoroughly washed their hands will be able to proceed...

Following the instructions exactly

and then wiped these same hands, also according to the instructions.

And at the same time he washed his already sterile boots in some caustic solution

In addition, there are special rollers hanging on the wall for collecting dust/lint from clothes.

And also instructions - where would we be without it? True, we didn’t use rollers, because... We were given brand new sterile gowns.

And here is the holy of holies - the warehouse of source material. I naively expected to see live fish there. Yes, I'm funny. Of course, these briquettes in colored packages were once fish.

But after meeting the trawler, all this fish looks like this:

Of course, few people will eat it in this form. Even branded packaging won’t save you here.

Therefore, the minced meat is defrosted, ground and subjected to a whole series of procedures that make it possible to obtain from it DOZENS of items DIFFERENT in taste, shape and composition of products.

This is where the confusion happens. At the same time, some secret substances are added to the minced meat, giving the future balls the consistency of rubber balls of different densities.

And here hordes of balls soak in different solutions

And then processed some more different ways and temperatures

Some people end up like sausages or something else.

And here they are already sprinkled with something and frozen. For some reason they pack it manually - probably an automatic line will cost more than manual labor.

“Where are the crab sticks?” -you ask? But here they are, produced here. The raw materials are the same, the additives are slightly different. The mass rolls out into thin sheets, which are then twisted into puff tubes.

Here they are before painting and cutting.

Then they are cut and wrapped

fall into boxes and then packed /

And that's all. You may ask, why did I disappoint you about the crab origin of the sticks? Well, it’s just such a fact of life. These types of foods make up a significant portion of our daily diet. And they will amount to even more, because... There are also more people, but less food. And of course, making food from something that is not at all like it - technologies of the future and technologies of profits. It is much more profitable to sell chips than potatoes, but it is better not to know about the production process. Making delicacies from minced meat is also probably more profitable than from live fish. And the output of this factory is 25 tons of products per day, accessible to the vast majority of the population, even with low incomes.

There is no doubt about the quality of these balls - in Singapore they are very strict about this, and the product must undergo a bunch of inspections and certifications before it is allowed on the market, much less to other countries for export. We are probably strict too, but in Singapore there is no theft and corruption. We have. Therefore, the production of the same food may well include obligatory expenses for the roof, officials and other abominations, and something else will certainly be stolen at the factory itself. It’s better not to know exactly what is added to the products to compensate for all this. This is probably why Singaporeans are not afraid to let us into their not-so-aesthetic production. Even the most inquisitive journalist will not find any horrors there.

Crab sticks are a ready-to-eat product with a specific fishy taste and aroma. The name itself is a successful marketing ploy, because the true composition differs from what was expected. The product is made from minced fish, but many manufacturers save money by focusing on egg whites, starch and food additives. To purchase quality sticks, you should carefully study the composition on the packaging.

Composition of crab sticks

Crab meat is not used in the production of the product, as evidenced by the note on almost all packages - “imitation”. These sticks are based on surimi, minced fish made from oceanic and tropical varieties of white fish. The raw materials are thoroughly washed, squeezed, and due to the characteristics of the meat used, it has neither a pronounced aroma nor taste.

Other ingredients of the sticks and their quantity depend on the manufacturer:

different types of starch (a binding link for minced meat particles, thanks to which the sticks retain elasticity even after exposure to temperature);
water;
egg white;
vegetable oil;
salt;
Flavor enhancers, sweeteners, dyes, preservatives - ingredients in this group can be harmful to humans.

In most of the products offered in this category, the mass fraction of fish (in terms of the amount of protein included in the composition) does not exceed 30-35%. There is no GOST for crab sticks, so the content of components can vary greatly among different manufacturers. There is no particular benefit from the product, since in the process of creating and processing minced fish, all valuable components disappear from it.

Which manufacturer has the best composition?

When buying crab sticks, the main difficulty is choosing a manufacturer, since visually they are no different from each other. It is important to study the composition and choose a safe product:

Santa Bremor. The mass fraction of fish does not exceed 30%, and the presence of egg white in the composition indicates that the amount of fish protein is even less. The composition includes wheat, potato and modified starch, table salt, glutamic acid, phosphates. No preservatives are used in production, which makes the product safe, but of little use;
Vici. Contains surimi, wheat starch, butter, egg white, sugar, table salt and food additives. There are no dangerous preservatives or monosodium glutamate enhancer among the ingredients;
Meridian– sticks with a high protein content and a minimum amount of salt. A negative point is the presence of polyphosphate in the composition - a moisture-retaining component;
Russian Sea. The fish share does not exceed 30%, the bulk of the sticks is water and starches (wheat, potato and corn). The composition includes vegetable oil, egg white, a large number of salts, glutamic acid;
water world . The composition of these sticks contains muscle fibers of fish meat, which is a good indicator. In addition to surimim, the ingredients include water, potato starch, egg white, oil, salt, sugar, food coloring, stabilizers and natural snow crab flavor.

All popular brands produce products with a similar composition and a minimum of harmful additives. The advantage may be a higher protein content and a minimal amount of salt than the Meridian and Water World sticks can boast. In general, the bulk of the product is starch and water, which cannot cause harm, but if the package contains additives E160, E420, E450 and E171, then it is better not to purchase such a product.

When purchasing, you should definitely pay attention to the appearance of the product - the sticks should be neat, juicy and elastic. Dry, frozen goods completely lose even the small benefits that they carry, not to mention their taste.

Nutritional value of the product

Calorie content of sticks– 88 cal per 100 grams of product. The BJU ratio for the vast majority of products averages 80%, 20% and 0%.

Video: making crab sticks

The production of crab sticks is a multi-stage technological process that involves repeated processing of minced fish. How exactly the popular product is made is shown in detail in this video.

Since the early nineties, the era of popularity of this product began, which became the main ingredient for salads in any festive table. Crab sticks are a tribute to tradition and a delicacy for domestic gourmets. They do a lot of things with them: they add them to salads, various appetizers, pates, and even manage to make rolls from such crab sticks. But, you and I are more interested not in the gastronomic side of the issue, but in the more practical one - benefits and harms of crab sticks. Is it worth getting so carried away with this product, or does it contain ingredients that do not deserve our love at all?
Be prepared that you will not remain indifferent after this publication. Why? Yes, because today, together with you, we will reveal the shocking truth about this product and tell you one of the great hoax stories.

Composition of crab sticks

Saying a humorous phrase that “No crab was harmed during the production of crab sticks", you... are telling the absolute truth!

There is simply no crab meat in crab sticks.

And by buying this product, you are purchasing anything (we’ll tell you what a little later) except a seafood delicacy. Therefore, you should not be greedy for a hackneyed advertising trick and get caught in loud and beautiful name, which does not at all guarantee the quality of the purchased product. And the cost of such a “delicacy” should also give rise to certain thoughts. Why would crab meat cost less than the cost of one kilogram of domestic sausage and be such an affordable product that you just take it - I don’t want it...
So, what is included in composition of "crab"chopsticks(from now on we will write this word only in quotation marks) ?

Independent consumer testing, unfortunately, was unable to establish the origin of those strange fibers and proteins that were part of the “crab” sticks, which were in the low or medium price segment of our market. However, such consumer expertise still managed to find out that the basis of this “seafood” is a mesh structure. But the nature of its origin cannot be established either. In some more expensive “crab” sticks, it was still possible to detect a structure of muscle fibers, which are presumably of fish origin. To summarize, we can say that the composition of an expensive “crab” product can be found in best case scenario fish fillet, paprika, starch, egg powder, in the worst case...

Do you see any word similar to the word “crab”?
But is it really possible that the whole world, knowing or at least guessing that there are no crabs in the “crab” sticks, still consciously purchases this product and adds it to its diet? Let's look at history.

Mass production technology of this product was developed more than forty years ago in Japan. However, even then, the first “crab” sticks did not contain crab meat.

Today, when buying such a delicacy, you should not expect that anything has changed. In the best case (with the correct ratio of the proportions of ingredients and their quality) you get a product that consists of forty percent minced fish, eight percent potato starch, ten percent egg white, eight percent water, . And, if you think that forty percent of minced fish is so little, we hasten to assure you that in fact this is more than good for “crab” sticks. After all, some unscrupulous manufacturers replace this forty percent of minced meat with flour, soy protein, or something that can’t even be called minced meat...
It turns out that such a fake (there is no other name for this product) has nothing to do with the benefits of eating crabs? On the one hand, yes. However, if we are talking about quality product, then such “crab” sticks can even be useful. Are you surprised? According to nutritionists,

they can safely be classified as dietary fish products, which are rich in vitamins B1, B2, C and microelements such as iron, zinc, phosphorus, iodine... Regular consumption of such dietary fish delicacy becomes an excellent disease prevention thyroid gland, improves the general condition of the human body, reduces the appearance of weakness and fatigue, and also restores the necessary balance of microelements in the human body.

Thus, studies conducted in 2006 in Ukraine showed positive influence from consuming this product included in the diet of people suffering from neuropsychiatric conditions and painful enlargement of the thyroid gland.
And now, the most important thing. This product was not called “crab” sticks by you and me, but by the French, who became acquainted with this product in the eighties. Then there was the popularity of “crab” sticks in America, and then... factories for the production of the overseas delicacy began to open in domestic spaces.

It sounds like “crab sticks”! You might think that they are of noble origin. In fact, the product is not made from crab meat, but from minced fish. Therefore, they differ from natural crab meat in the same way as artificial flower from the present.

The history of crab sticks

One of the main ingredients of quality sticks is minced fish (surimi). Its recipe was invented in Japan back in the 12th century. Residents of the island noticed that the mass obtained from ground and squeezed fish has good taste; various figures can be sculpted from this mass to decorate the dish.

True, exporting surimi and products made from it for a long time the Japanese did not succeed. Americans and Europeans did not want to buy the product. This continued until Japanese technologists painted the product with food coloring, applied a red stripe to it, after which the “imitation crab meat” product went on sale. In such packaging they quickly filled not only the European and American markets, but became popular all over the world.

What are crab sticks made from: composition and calorie content

Minced fish for crab sticks is made from fillets of fish that live in the ocean. This could be pollock, hake, herring or mackerel. The meat is ground and washed with water many times. Then the mass is put into a centrifuge to remove excess water. The result is an almost tasteless mixture, which the Japanese love, but residents of other countries do not. Therefore, the minced fish had to be seasoned with salt, sugar, flavorings, and in order for the product to be stored well, preservatives had to be added. Then apply a red stripe with food coloring and the product is ready to eat.

Crab sticks are low-calorie foods. There are only 88 kcal per 100 grams. Protein content is about 17.5 g, fat 2 g, no carbohydrates. It will not be difficult for you to independently determine the calorie content of one stick - according to the same instructions on the pack.

There can be 8 pieces in a 100 gram package, which means that with a calorie content of 88 kcal, the value of each stick will be 11 kcal.

How to choose quality crab sticks

What to look for when buying a product in a store:

Choose elastic and juicy sticks, in which only the outer side is neatly painted. The list of ingredients should begin with minced fish (surimi);
If the word “surimi” is written second or third in the list of ingredients, there is minimal fish in the product. They didn’t find the word “surimi” at all, which means they were made from starch or soy protein;
A guarantee of quality can be considered the name of the manufacturer written on the packaging, the date of manufacture of the product and its expiration date;
The product may lose its juiciness if it is thawed and then frozen again. Therefore, you should not buy sticks if there is snow and ice on them;
Sometimes sticks are sold individually; it is generally better not to buy these, since you will not be able to reliably find out from what ingredients, by whom and when such a “delicacy” was created.

Experts have no complaints about the sticks themselves. In general, they are not bad at all and their taste is pleasant; if you carefully study the composition and give preference to products only with natural ingredients, you can safely use them.

They do not need to be further processed, the product is already fully prepared, there is no need to mess with it, just open the package and you can eat it. In Russia and countries former USSR traditionally they are added to salads. Not a single holiday is complete without them.

Although this is not the only option for using them in cooking. For example, in France they are simply dipped in various sauces, casseroles, soups, pancakes are prepared from them, and even put as a filling in pies.

In general, the French are not inferior to the residents of Japan in consuming this product. And the French certainly understand healthy food and good dishes. In addition, a low-calorie product can replace a standard high-calorie snack - chips, buns, chocolate, which are usually bought when you want to “kill a worm.”

But at the same time, experts claim that neither color, nor taste, nor any other quality criteria are an indication for the use of this product by children. Definitely not! All kinds of flavor enhancers, plus aromatic additives and preservatives are added to the sticks. It is unlikely that they will be useful for a growing child’s body, because they nutritional value practically reduced to zero.

In addition, crab sticks contain gluten, and children are often intolerant to this protein. Doctors warn that if you feed such children with foods containing gluten, the result can be very sad, because it affects the intestinal mucosa, as a result it can atrophy and absorption useful substances in the intestines will be disrupted. The child will lose weight and lag behind physical development and even mentally.

Crab sticks– one of the most popular products among Russians. They are a ready-to-eat dish and do not require additional preparation. Crab sticks are mainly used for salads and sushi.

History of the origin of crab sticks

The prototype of crab sticks was invented in the 12th century in Japan and was called surimi, that is, “washed” ground fish" The product was made from minced white ocean fish (pollock, hake, etc.), which was shaped into a ball, sausages and sausages. The surimi was then fried or boiled. There were attempts to sell surimi for export, but at first this dish did not catch on in other countries.

However, in the 70s of the last century, the Japanese refined the surimi recipe, adding flavoring additives, dyes and flavorings and giving it appearance similar to crab meat. Crab sticks are popular in America, Europe and Russia, but this type of product is not widely used in Japan.

Crab sticks production technology

The main component of crab sticks is surimi, that is, white minced fish. To produce crab sticks, washed, dried and defatted white fish fillets are used. If the manufacturer uses fish waste instead of fillets, you should refuse to purchase such a product. The fillet must be made from freshly caught fish, so factories producing high-quality surimi are located in close proximity to the place of fishing.

What are crab sticks made of?

Modern producers use hake, mackerel, pollock, that is, white, lean, dense fish. To improve the taste and smell of the product, starch, salt, egg white, vegetable oil, stabilizers, flavor enhancers and flavorings are added to the minced meat. In the final product, the content of minced fish is usually 45–50%, minimal permissible value– 25%. One part of the minced meat is colored with food coloring; this is the future “crab” component of the stick. After this, using automated lines, the minced meat is rolled out into a thin layer, cut into rectangles and rolled into rolls.

Watch a video on the production of crab sticks at one of the factories in the Russian Federation

Using crab sticks in cooking

Crab sticks are used in salads and go well with eggs, corn and Chinese cabbage, and rice. If you bake crab sticks in batter, you will get a quick and tasty snack. A favorite dish of many housewives are crab sticks stuffed with tuna, pink salmon, sprats or cheese.