JP6779824B2 - How to make cooked food - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a cooked food obtained by cooking a starchy food such as potatoes.

Frozen foods are foods that can be stored for a long period of time with little deterioration in quality during storage without using preservatives, and their convenience is favored by many consumers. Some frozen foods are simply frozen uncooked food materials, but in recent years, against the background of the progress of nuclear family and individual eating, they are naturally thawed or heated using a cooking device such as a microwave oven. Demand for so-called ready-tweet cooked frozen foods, which can be easily put into a state of eating just by cooking, is rapidly increasing.

Among such cooked frozen foods, especially starchy foods, especially cooked frozen foods made from potatoes containing a relatively large amount of starch, excessively lose water inside the food during frozen storage or thawing. Therefore, there is a problem that the texture is remarkably deteriorated. For example, frozen cooked taro obtained by cooking taro, which is a type of potato, with a seasoning liquid containing sugar and freezing the cooked taro, has a significant amount of water inside the taro when it is naturally thawed. Since it is lost, the inside of the taro after thawing becomes a sponge, and the texture is significantly deteriorated compared to the original taro.

Patent Document 1 describes, as a method for producing frozen taro, which solves the above-mentioned problems, a method of immersing the taro in a solution containing a specific sugar such as dextrin before freezing the taro. As a specific example of such a solution dipping method, a method of mixing taro and a seasoning liquid containing a specific sugar and heating the mixture is described. According to the method for producing frozen taro described in Patent Document 1, it is said that cell destruction and starch aging associated with freezing and thawing of frozen taro can be suppressed, and spongization of taro after thawing can be prevented.

JP-A-6-133687

In general, cooked frozen foods using potatoes as a food material have internal sponge formation in proportion to the frozen storage period, and therefore, if the frozen storage period is long, the quality of the cooked frozen food deteriorates significantly after thawing. Even when the frozen storage period is long, the quality of starchy foods such as potatoes does not deteriorate much, and a technique capable of maintaining the original texture of starchy foods after thawing has not yet been provided.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a cooked food having excellent storage stability and little deterioration in quality even when the frozen storage period is long.

The present invention is a method for producing a cooked food, which comprises a step of cooking a starchy food with a seasoning liquid containing 25% by mass or more of sugars.

According to the production method of the present invention, a cooked food having excellent storage stability, little deterioration in quality even when the frozen storage period is long, and excellent texture when thawed by natural thawing or the like is obtained. Be done.

The starchy food used in the present invention is a food containing starch that is pregelatinized by cooking, and includes a food material containing the starch (for example, uncooked potatoes) and a processed food obtained by processing the food material. The term "processing of ingredients" as used herein includes various processes usually applied to ingredients. For example, when the ingredients are uncooked potatoes or pumpkins, the potatoes or pumpkins are peeled and cut. Pretreatment such as seasoning; refrigeration or freezing; The type of starch contained in the starchy food is not particularly limited, and for example, tapioca starch, horse bell starch, corn starch, waxy corn starch, wheat starch, rice starch; pregelatinized, etherified, esterified, and acetyl in the various starches. Examples thereof include processed starches that have been subjected to treatments such as chemical conversion, cross-linking treatment, and oxidation treatment, and starchy foods may contain one or more of these.

The starchy food used in the present invention is typically potatoes or pumpkins, and one selected from the group consisting of potatoes and pumpkins can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Examples of potatoes include taro and potatoes. As the pumpkins, fruit vegetables belonging to the genus Squash of the Cucurbitaceae family can be used without particular limitation. Examples of starchy foods other than potatoes and pumpkins include cooked rice, noodles, and dumplings, which are applicable to the present invention.

The present invention is particularly effective for taro (scientific name: Colocasia esculenta Schotto), which is a kind of potatoes. Taro is a perennial plant of the Araceae family, and its varieties include, for example, Celebes, red bud potato, shrimp potato, Dodare, Hayao Ishikawa, Bungo, Tori-sari, eight-headed, seasonal potato, and Karaimo.

The method for producing a cooked food of the present invention includes a step of cooking a starchy food (cooking step). Further, the method for producing a cooked food of the present invention includes an embodiment including a step (freezing step) of freezing the cooked food obtained by the cooking step in addition to the cooking step. Prior to the cooking step, if necessary, pretreatment of starchy foods, such as peeling, cutting, and seasoning, may be performed.

The method for producing a cooked food of the present invention is characterized in that, in the cooking step, the starchy food is cooked with a seasoning liquid containing 25% by mass or more of sugar. In this way, by cooking starchy foods with a relatively high-concentration sugar-containing seasoning liquid having a sugar content of 25% by mass or more, the storage stability of the frozen foods of the cooked foods is dramatically improved. Even when the frozen storage period is long, for example, exceeding one month, a cooked food with less deterioration in quality, particularly texture, can be obtained. If the sugar content in the seasoning liquid is less than 25% by mass, a cooked food that can withstand long-term frozen storage cannot be obtained. This point is clear from the comparison between the examples described later and the comparative examples. The content of sugars in the seasoning liquid is preferably 25 to 40% by mass, more preferably 30 to 35% by mass, from the viewpoint of improving the storage stability of the cooked food and the balance with the taste. If the content of sugars in the seasoning liquid is too high, the sweetness of the obtained cooked food becomes excessive, and the cooked food may be burnt.

As the sugar used in the seasoning liquid according to the present invention, those usually used in the food field can be used without particular limitation, and for example, sugar, granulated sugar, sucrose, malt sugar, lactose, fructose, glucose, isomerized sugar, etc. Monosaccharides such as trehalose, oligosaccharides and dextrin, disaccharides or polysaccharides; sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and martitol; liquid sugars such as honey, water candy and maple syrup; and other sweeteners, one of which is used alone. Or two or more types can be used in combination.

Among the above-mentioned sugars, trehalose and / or dextrin are particularly preferable, and trehalose is particularly preferable. When 50% by mass or more, particularly 70% by mass or more, particularly 90% by mass or more of the sugars used in the seasoning liquid are only trehalose and / or dextrin, more preferably trehalose, it is particularly effective in improving the storage stability of the cooked food. Is the target.

The seasoning liquid according to the present invention is usually composed of at least sugar and water. The seasoning liquid according to the present invention may contain other components as long as the predetermined effects of the present invention are not impaired. Examples of other ingredients include seasonings such as soy sauce, salt, miso, powdered soup stock, mirin, and sake, and one of these may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The method for cooking starchy foods using a seasoning liquid is not particularly limited as long as it is a method for cooking in the presence of water, and examples thereof include boiled cooking and stir-fried cooking, and one of these may be used alone or. Two or more types can be used in combination. A typical cooking method for starchy foods using seasonings is boiling. Boiled cooking is a cooking method in which the whole or substantially the whole starchy food, which is a food material, is immersed in a seasoning liquid and then heated. In addition, stir-fry cooking is a cooking method in which ingredients are baked using a smaller amount of seasoning liquid than boiled dishes.

The amount of the seasoning liquid used in the cooking of the starchy food is preferably 50 to 500% by mass, more preferably 100 to 300% by mass, based on the total mass of the starchy food to be cooked. If the amount of such a seasoning liquid is too small, it is difficult to obtain the predetermined effect of the present invention. On the other hand, if the amount of the seasoning liquid is too large, the sensuality is not affected, and the predetermined effect of the present invention is basically obtained, but the waste of the seasoning liquid is reduced and the starchy food is efficiently cooked. From the viewpoint, it is preferable that the upper limit of the amount of the seasoning liquid is as described above.

The heating conditions for cooking starchy foods differ depending on the type of starchy foods and the like, but as a preferred embodiment of cooking starchy foods, the product temperature (heating temperature) of the starchy foods is 105 ° C. or higher. Examples include those including a step of maintaining the state for 2 minutes or more. Cooking including such a step is particularly effective when the starchy food is potatoes. In such a step, the product temperature (heating temperature) of the starchy food is preferably 105 to 120 ° C., and the time for maintaining the product temperature (heating time) is preferably 2 to 10 minutes.

It is preferable that the starchy food is cooked while pressurizing the starchy food with the steam generated during the cooking. This vapor is usually derived from the water content of the seasoning liquid that is heated with the starchy food. By pressure-cooking the starchy food in this way, the storage stability of the obtained cooked food can be further improved as compared with the case where the starchy food is simply cooked without pressure. Pressurized cooking of starchy foods can be carried out by placing the starchy foods and seasoning liquid in a sealable container and heating the container, and as the container, for example, a commercially available pressure cooker can be used.

As described above, the method for producing a cooked food product of the present invention includes an embodiment including the cooking step and the subsequent freezing step. The production object in such an embodiment is a frozen food product which is a frozen solidified product of a cooked food product. In the production method of such an embodiment, the cooked food obtained by the cooking step may be immediately subjected to the freezing step of the next step as it is, but after being allowed to stand for a certain period of time, it is subjected to the freezing step of the next step. It is preferable to provide. By doing so, the seasoning liquid can be further permeated into the starchy food, and the predetermined effect of the present invention can be more stably exhibited. In this case, the standing time of the cooked food depends on the type of starchy food and the like, but for example, when the starchy food is potatoes, it is preferably 1 hour or more, more preferably 3 to 24 hours.

The standing step of the cooked food before the freezing step may be carried out by leaving the cooked food in a high temperature state immediately after cooking in an environment of room temperature (about 25 ° C.), or in a high temperature state. It may include a step of cooling the cooked food by a cooling means such as a refrigerator or running water. Further, such a standing step may be carried out by putting the cooked food immediately after cooking in a container that can be sealed together with the seasoning liquid used for the cooking, and leaving the container sealed.

In the freezing step, the method of freezing the cooked food is not particularly limited and can be carried out by using a known freezing means. For example, quick freezing that freezes in a short time or slow freezing that freezes relatively slowly may be used. .. From the viewpoint of the quality of frozen foods, quick freezing is desirable.

The frozen food (frozen solidified product of cooked food) produced by the production method of the present invention can be eaten by thawing. The thawing method is not particularly limited, and it may be a natural thawing in which the frozen food is left at a temperature of room temperature or lower without heating, or a forced thawing using a heat treatment such as a microwave oven, a water bath, or steaming. In particular, when the starchy food is potatoes, when the frozen food, which is the frozen product, is naturally thawed, the quality of the food after thawing tends to deteriorate significantly. However, according to the present invention, when the frozen food is naturally thawed, the quality of the food tends to deteriorate significantly. However, deterioration of food quality after thawing can be effectively suppressed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following Examples.

[Examples 1 to 10 and Comparative Examples 1 to 5]
Taro was used as a starchy food, and this was cooked with a predetermined seasoning liquid, and the obtained cooked taro was frozen to produce a frozen food, frozen taro.
Specifically, 60 g of dark soy sauce, 6 g of powdered soup stock, 500 g of water and a predetermined amount of sugar were added and mixed as seasoning liquid materials in a pan to prepare a seasoning liquid. As sugars, Johakuto (manufactured by Mitsui Sugar Co., Ltd.), dextrin (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), and trehalose (manufactured by Hayashibara Co., Ltd.) were used. In this seasoning liquid, 500 g of commercially available frozen taro (starch food) that has been cut into appropriate sizes in advance is put into the seasoning liquid, and cooked (boiled) for a predetermined time at a predetermined heating temperature (starch food product temperature). ) (Cooking process). The amount of seasoning liquid used was 130% by mass of the total mass of the frozen taro. The "heating temperature (product temperature of starchy food)" referred to here is the product temperature of the central part of the starchy food during cooking, and is the temperature measured by the data trace (Micropack III). There are two methods of cooking frozen satoimo: "pressurized cooking", which is performed according to a conventional method using a commercially available pressure cooker as the pot, and heating without pressurization using a normal pot without using a pressure cooker. Two types of cooking, "simple cooking", were used as appropriate. In the latter simple cooking, heating was performed for 20 minutes after the seasoning liquid was boiled. Immediately after cooking, put the cooked taro together with the broth (seasoning liquid) in a sealable pouch bag, seal it, put the pouch bag containing the cooked taro into running water to remove the rough heat, and then leave it as it is. It was allowed to stand for 3 hours (standing process). After standing, the pouch bag was opened, the broth in the contents was discarded, and only the taro was taken out and allowed to stand for 30 minutes or more in an environment of room temperature of -35 ° C and a wind speed of 8 m / s to freeze (freezing process). ). The frozen taro produced in this way was placed in a pouch bag, sealed, and stored frozen together with the pouch bag in a freezer having an internal temperature of −20 ° C.

[Test example]
Frozen foods (frozen satoimo) of each Example and Comparative Example are stored in a freezer having an internal temperature of −20 ° C. for a predetermined number of days (30 days, 60 days or 90 days), and then taken out from the freezer to have an internal temperature of 5 The frozen food was naturally thawed (non-heated thawed) by transferring it to a refrigerator at ° C. and allowing it to stand in the refrigerator for 6 hours or more. We asked 10 panelists to eat the thawed food (taro) and evaluate the texture at that time according to the following evaluation criteria. The results are shown in Table 1 below as the average score of the evaluation points (out of 5 points) of 10 panelists. It can be judged that the higher the evaluation of the texture after thawing, the better the storage stability of the frozen food.

(Evaluation criteria for texture)
5 points: Very good texture without feeling lumpy.
4 points: Although it feels slightly lumpy, it can be eaten deliciously and has a good texture.
3 points: The texture feels lumpy, but there is no problem as a product.
2 points: The texture is quite lumpy and has a problem as a product.
1 point: A texture that only feels lumpy and is resistant to eating.

As shown in Table 1, each example is frozen as compared with each comparative example in which the content of saccharides in the seasoning liquid is 25% by mass or more and the content is less than 25% by mass. Even if the storage period was as long as 90 days, the texture of frozen taro, which is a frozen food, after thawing was excellent.
Further, from the comparison between Examples 1 to 4, it can be seen that it is particularly preferable to use trehalose alone as in Example 1 for the saccharides contained in the seasoning liquid.
Further, from the comparison between Examples 1, 5 and 6, it can be seen that the heating time in cooking is particularly preferably about 2 to 5 minutes.
Further, from the comparison between Example 8 and Example 9, it can be seen that it is preferable that the heating temperature (the temperature of the starchy food) is 105 ° C. or higher and the cooking is accompanied by pressurization as in Example 8. ..

Claims (3)

Against taro, trehalose, comprising the step of cooking at least one saccharide selected from white sugar and dextrin at 25 40 mass% including seasoning liquid, a method for producing a cooked food,
Production of cooked foods , which comprises a step of maintaining the temperature of the taro at 105 ° C. or higher for 2 to 20 minutes while pressurizing the taro with steam generated during the cooking using a pressure cooker. Method. The method for producing a cooked food according to claim 1 , wherein the saccharide contains 50% by mass or more of one or more selected from the group consisting of trehalose and dextrin. The method for producing a cooked food according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the taro is frozen after being cooked.