SEA 



SCIENCE 



meat as a food ingredient. 



Around the same time, the first 

 expenmental sunmi production plant was 

 being set up in Alabama. The company 

 requested North Carolina Sea Grant's 

 assistance in developing domestic uses for 

 the raw material made from croaker, a fish 

 abundant in both the Gulf of Mexico and 

 South Atlantic waters. 



This led to a number of research 

 initiatives by Lanier and Donald Hamann 

 of NC State to explore the properties of fish 

 proteins for enhancing their uses in the domestic 

 food supply. 



"Our focus switched to the more abundant 

 Alaskan pollock resource of the North Pacific in 

 the early 1 980s," says Lanier. 



The Sea Grant research centered on 

 understanding the gelling properties of surimi 

 as they related to development of new surimi- 

 based shellfish analog products, including 

 imitation crab, scallops and shrimp. The scientists 

 pioneered new testing techniques for surimi 

 gelling quality, the most critical factor determining 

 the price and uses of any batch of raw surimi. 



Later, the scientists demonstrated for the 

 first time how quality fish protein product or 

 surimi could be manufactured from Atlantic 



ABOVE: Imitation crabsticks — often used in seafood salads 

 — can be found at supermarkets across the country. 



menhaden, an industrial fish caught in waters 

 around North Carolina and other states. 

 Menhaden had previously not been used 

 for direct human consumption. However, 

 commercial production using menhaden in 

 surimi products has not begun. 



"Surimi production in the United States 

 became a very successful venture, increasing 

 from only about 4,000 metric tons in 1 988 to 

 nearly 200,000 metric tons a decade later," says 

 Lanier. 



Sea Grant scientists and other colleagues 

 led efforts to use standardize testing methods to 

 assess the quality of surimi. 



Their efforts culminated in the first Surimi 

 School at Oregon State University, which is 



headed by Jae Park, who studied under 

 Lanier at NC State. Now, the school is 

 held each year to train surimi technicians 

 and operators of U.S. surimi-seafood 

 manufacturing plants that are pnmarily on 

 the West Coast. Every other year, Park also 

 holds a surimi school in Europe and Asia. 



"Despite a continuous decrease of 

 consumption injapan, surimi seafood 

 consumption worldwide continues to grow 

 due to the development of other markets 

 such as Europe and Southeast Asia," 

 according to Parks. "After a decline of two to 

 three years, the low quality Chinese imports also 

 are growing again." 



With an annual production of more than 

 200,000 metric tons of finished surimi, Europe is 

 the fastest-growing segment of the market for this 

 type of seafood, particularly crabsticks, he adds. 



Lanier hopes that the new microwave 

 technology and availability of new species will 

 help U.S. manufacturers expand their lines of 

 surimi products. 



"Surimi is used in millions of ways in 

 Japan," he says. " In the United States, it is 

 mostly used as a salad product. The U.S. surimi 

 market is a mature industry and needs some 

 innovation." □ 



Surimi Production: A Quick Lesson 



For many years, North Carolina Sea Grant researcher Tyre 

 Lanier and his students at North Carolina State University have been 

 on the cutting edge of surimi research. Below, Lanier explains the 

 intricacies of surimi production, including imitation crab. 



What species are used to make surimi? 



In the United States, surimi is made mostly from underutilized 

 species such as Alaskan pollock and Pacific whiting. However, other 

 countries use many other species such as southern blue whiting in 

 Argentina and various tropical fish found in the Indian Ocean. The 

 tropical fish have unusual names such as threadfin beam, big eye, 

 lizard fish, goatfish and ribbon fish. 



How is surimi made? 



During the refining process, manufacturers produce a mince 

 that is white and has little flavor or odor. Sugars are added to 

 stabilize the functional proteins prior to being put in frozen storage 

 in rectangular blocks that can be stored for up to a year. The 

 blocks are shipped across the world for the production of Asian 



"kamaboko" or fish cakes, They also are used in the United States and 

 Europe for imitation shellfish meat products. 



Before making the products, the surimi is thawed and blended with 

 egg whites, starches and natural flavors. To shape the crab-like fibers, 

 manufacturers use sophisticated cooking equipment. 



What is the process for making imitation crab? 



It begins with cooking a very thin sheet of the blended paste on 

 a stainless steel belt. Since the cooking of the sheet is extremely fast 

 — almost to a boiling point — the resulting gel needs to be strong 

 enough to be removed from the belt in a sheet form without breaking it. 

 The end result is a product with a realistic crab texture and bite. 



Are there Web sites on the new microwave technology and surimi? 



To find out more about the IMS FAST system, visit www. industrial 

 microwave.com. 



For more information about surimi, click on: www.surimithailand. 

 com/Surimi.html. To find out about the Oregon State University Surimi 

 School, visit www.surimischool.org. — AG. 



26 Coastwatch I High Season 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



