History of crab sticks
When did they come up with crab sticks? Who invented the sticks? Crab sticks were invented by the Japanese - they always invent a lot of interesting and new, and then this whole "novelty" is used by the whole world and exclaims: "Well, that's it!". In general, the Japanese invented crab sticks for a long time, or rather, at the beginning of the 12th century. At that time, Japanese fish began to make white minced meat, which was called "surimi". At that time semi-finished products-sausages, koloboks-were prepared from this white stuffing. Then these semi-finished products were brewed, baked, roasted with the addition of their Japanese condiments. Among the people most loved tight fish balls - "kamaboko."
Over time, the Japanese began to try to export this product, but the market "innovation" was not accepted. People of the western countries said that the surimi balls look more like rubber with a taste of soap and that even the dogs will not use it.
But in the 20 century in the 1970s, everything changed radically-the product from surimi fell in love with the whole civilized world. But what is the secret of such a successful success? And the success was that in the food industry of many countries at that time, food additives such as cacaromatizers, dyes, flavor enhancers, and other fruits of scientific attainments began to be widely used. During this period of time, the surimi product, which was understandable to the sparring people, was reborn into the exotic "crab" sticks known to us today (imitation crab meat).
Crab sticks have become widely used in Europe, America, Russia, and in Japan, as before, everything went in the same direction - a part of crab palochezes of all products that are made from surimi account for only ten percent.
From what the crayon sticks are prepared
For the preparation of surimi in the 12th century, a better-quality fish was used, which was exactly environmentally friendly. At present, not the best fish species are surimidated, most often for preparation is a whitefish, for example, blue whiting, haddock, pollock, perch, hake. Fish fillets are first washed, grinded, then to remove excess moisture is passed through the centrifuge. The result is a light mass, then sugar, starch and salt are added to it - it turns out to be surimi. It is worth noting that Russian food industry enterprises themselves rarely produce surimi, they prefer to buy it abroad - in the US, Canada, Argentina, and on the spot are already preparing directly crab sticks.
In surimi, various ingredients are added: egg white, vegetable oil, starch, vegetable protein, stabilizers, flavors, purified water, thickeners, dyes for attractive red color (such as caramine or carrageenan) and flavor enhancers. Thus, in the product of fish fish remains at best only 45%, but most often the product contains no more than 25% of minced fish, and this is considered a normal ratio. In general, the percentage ratio of the ingredients is not specified in the product packing, however, before buying, it is better to read the contents of the product.
Currently, most consumers know that the ingredients that are on the list of the product composition are the first to form the main part of the product. Consequently, if in the product of the product the first one is "surimi", then it can be concluded that this product is of an acceptable quality, and it can be safely purchased. In the event that "surimi" is listed in the second place, the number of fish in the product is minimized. If this word is not in the list at all, then, respectively, the fish, too, there is only soy protein, starch and various substitutes. In this case, it is better not to buy such sticks.
Now with regard to food additives. Today, without food, nothing can do, and crab sticks are no exception. But so far in Russia are allowed those supplements that in other countries have long been banned. It is about harmful additives, such as E420, E450, E171, E160 - these additives can cause allergies, as well as chronic diseases. In Russia, these additives are actively used, but in the EU countries are banned.
Many experts and manufacturers try to convince the consumer that harmful chemical additives in a small amount of harm do not cause. Perhaps, especially if you do not take into account the fact that we regularly buy products in our stores that contain a large number of such substances, and crab sticks, replacing other ingredients, we add almost all salads.
In any case, each consumer decides which product to purchase, but before buying crab sticks, think about this. Occasional microbiological contamination of the product is much more dangerous than the content of chemical additives, especially if we consider that the product described by us is not subject to heat treatment. Therefore, it is best to buy products in the vacuum packaging of popular manufacturers, but cheap weighty options should be avoided.
Choose crab sticks
What are the costs of buying crab sticks? Attention should be paid first of all to the appearance: crab sticks should be beautiful and neat, should be elastic, juicy, they should resemble crab meat and should look appetizing. Frozen, dry and devoid of elasticity sticks to buy is not worth it, because these sticks have no taste, as there is no value. Do not also buy sticks from the freezer, where t o falls below 18 degrees below zero.
Crab sticks should not be frozen again. If the packaging has snow and / or ice, then this indicates that the product has been frozen repeatedly. On the packaging should be information about the manufacturer, storage conditions and shelf life, and the sticks on one side should be carefully and evenly colored.
So, crab sticks can not be called a useful product, because all minerals, vitamins and useful fats are lost when cooking sour, in the product there is only fish protein.