PROCESS FOR PRODUCING CHIRIMEN STARTING WITH YOUNG FISH AND PRODUCT OBTAINED THEREBY

摘要

A food product sustaining a favorable taste and having good keeping qualities can be obtained by aging the food under ice-cooling at 5°C to -25°C. Namely, a process for producing chirimen (boiled and dried young sardines) characterized by involving the following steps, i.e., the steps (3 and 4) of aging under ice-cooling at 5°C to -25°C young fish such as Engraulis japonicus (2) having been boiled in water containing from 3% to 10% of sodium chloride; the step (7) of thawing the frozen material (4) having been frozen at -23°C to -25°C under ice-cooling; the step (8) of vacuum packing the material having been thawed under ice-cooling; and the step (9) of heating it under elevated pressure. Owing to the aging procedure under ice-cooling at 5°C to -25°C , the product obtained by this process contains free amino acids in an elevated amount and thus sustains the favorable taste of the starting material even after the pasteurization by heating under elevated pressure and has good keeping qualities. Therefore, the product suffers from little wastage and can be stored in refrigerator both for business use (schools, hospitals and so on) and for domestic use, which makes it possible to find a new market.