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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2009 14:44:10 GMT
Does anybody actually like surimi compared to the real thing?
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Post by auntieannie on May 28, 2009 18:06:41 GMT
Big D's own... if you ask me. yech! A culinary offence.
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Post by lagatta on May 28, 2009 20:41:56 GMT
I believe some people might, but I love real crab SO much...
I have seen kosher surimi, and vegan surimi. Suppose those are legitimate reasons.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2009 2:59:59 GMT
I'll admit I don't mind snacking on the stuff with a good spicy dip. I have a feeling locals here love it. BTW what is mock turtle soup made of?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 3:19:42 GMT
Here it's usually real turtle meat but I've heard some use oxtails.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 4:24:52 GMT
Soup with real turtle meat is not mock turtle soup; it is turtle soup.
I believe that the mock version is indeed made with oxtail.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2009 5:21:00 GMT
Why don't they call it oxtail soup?
;D ;D ;D
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2009 5:50:57 GMT
You really need to boeuf up your knowledge of classic dishes if you don't wish to be mocked, dear HW! A well-known illustration acknowledges from whence the flavor comes in mock-turtle soup:
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Post by gyro on May 29, 2009 8:44:18 GMT
Most types of Surimi are predominately fish poo and other wastes.
If you ever see something with the ingredient MRM, don't go near it. It stands for Machine Reclaimed Meat. ie. meat that's been sitting in the mincing/break up machine for the entire shift (12 hours), and then gets scooped up and bagged and frozen afterwards. eeeuurrgh.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 8:48:00 GMT
You mean like Chicken McNuggets?
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Post by gyro on May 29, 2009 9:26:22 GMT
Yeah, same principal as far as I'm aware. And cheap fish fingers.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2009 15:54:10 GMT
*orp*
Is that true about surimi?! I thought it was just different types of salt-water white fish with some soy extender and lots of sugar.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 17:15:08 GMT
Wikipedia:
Lean meat from fish or land animals first is separated or minced. The meat then is rinsed numerous times to eliminate undesirable odors. The result is beaten and pulverized to form a gelatinous paste. Depending on the desired texture and flavour of the surimi product, the gelatinous paste is mixed with differing proportions of additives such as starch, egg white, salt, vegetable oil, humectants, sorbitol, sugar, soy protein, seasonings, and chemical enhancers such as transglutaminases and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
If the surimi is to be packed and frozen, food-grade cryoprotectants are added as preservatives while the meat paste is being mixed. Under most circumstances, surimi is processed immediately, formed and cured into surimi products when it is produced.
Fish surimi Typically the resulting paste, depending on the type of fish and whether it was rinsed in the production process, is tasteless and must be flavored artificially. According to the USDA Food Nutrient Database 16-1, fish surimi contains about 76% water, 15% protein, 6.85% carbohydrate, 0.9% fat, and 0.03% cholesterol.
In North America and Europe, surimi also alludes to fish-based products manufactured using this process. A generic term for fish-based surimi in Japanese is "fish-purée".
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 22:08:20 GMT
That's a far cry from "fish poo".
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Post by bixaorellana on May 30, 2009 0:22:16 GMT
It's disconcerting that it's tasteless. You'd think the whole point would be that it would retain some oceanic flavor which would take some enhancement, not complete replacement of flavor.
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Post by auntieannie on May 30, 2009 20:42:32 GMT
bix, in "eat your heart out" you will find an explanation:
the blander and / or sweeter the food is, the more happy returning customers you have. Supermarkets are catering for the masses and so food is becoming blander and sweeter.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2009 20:48:33 GMT
That is so true and so sad.
I think that those of us looking for the 'extremes' in tastiness are few and far between. You cannot imagine the number of times I have bought lamb that tasted like beef.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 30, 2009 22:10:28 GMT
"Oh ~~ I don't like lamb -- it's gamey!" I was told that the reason so many foods, particularly processed ones, are sweet is because sugar is the cheapest form of preservative. Then, after growing up eating sugary-tasting food, the palate must crave it. Try this little test: Don't eat any sugar at all for a couple of weeks -- not in your coffee, not in anything. Then buy a regular hot dog. You'll probably spit it out, the excess sweetness will be so repugnant. Of course there are those savory foods that are sweet on purpose that for some reason "work" -- General Tso's chicken, for instance. That reminds me of a barbeque I attended here at the home of an American. He was very proud of his authentic sauce and cooking technique, and it was really good. As I was gnawing away at a rib, a Mexican guest leaned over & whispered to me, "This is sweet! Why is it sweet?"
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Post by gyro on Jun 1, 2009 8:45:41 GMT
" That's a far cry from "fish poo". "
Cas, the ever reliable Wikipedia obviously doesn't know of the factories that 95% of UK retailers use ......
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Post by lagatta on Jun 1, 2009 21:20:12 GMT
bixa, I've done the sugar thing very strictly - I don't put any in my coffee or tea in any case, or drink sugary drinks, but I carefully read everything and avoided charcuterie as there is non-indicated sugar in many types. Most industrial processed things such as hot dogs appear repulsively sweet if one does that for a while.
Even the sweet version of General Tso's seems to have been a (US) American change in a Szechuan recipe, which was originally hot and sour (to a degree that would be unpalatable to most Westerners of any culture), made hot and sweet instead. I do find it tasty IF the sweetness is not too pronounced, which I usually find it to be.
Bixa, when I eat barbecue, it is usually prepared by my carnivorous friends from the Cono Sur - Argentina and Chile. They don't seem to use any sweet sauces at all.
The main difference between chimichurri and pebre seems to be parsley vs cilantro...
gyro, wouldn't it be more floor sweepings? And it isn't just the UK...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2009 22:55:09 GMT
Okay, Lagatta ~~ I have my hands over my ears and I'm going "lalalalalala" very loudly to keep from hearing your logical, informed explanation of Gen. Tso's chicken.
I generally (ahem) eat it at a buffet when I'm in the States -- one of those buffets that also feature fried chicken and buttered cabbage for the clients who got dragged in by someone else and who wouldn't touch no kinda furrin food. I pounce on the Gen'l Tso's, relishing every crunchy, deep-fried, sugary bite -- all the stuff I avoid, rolled into one delicious dish -- and telling myself how lucky I am to have this authentic Chinese treat.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2009 3:18:43 GMT
Bixa, it's good to indulge once in a while.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2009 3:26:46 GMT
True, but is it good to make that my mantra?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2014 18:47:10 GMT
On the evening news tonight there was a report about surimi again, because the French continue to be the #2 consumers in the world of the product after the Japanese. We eat 3 kgs of it per person every year. Although I do eat a bit of it, I think I am well under the 3 kilo level.
Anyway, the news was not bad, even though it is not a product of which to be proud. At least what comes out of the French factories is 100% normal fish, the same sort that is used for fish fingers, and all of it comes from Alaska -- pollock or whiting, for the most part. Not fish poo. The fish is ground up (but not the bones or the skin) to a paste obviously, which did not look disgusting at all in the report (like the pink slime of McNuggets), just creamy and white. A bit of sugar is indeed added as a preservative -- and probably also because crab meat is sweet. Anyway, it is made into endless tubes after the addition of "crab flavour" and the red colouring is paprika.
I was not at all more attracted to the product after watching the report, but for once I was not nauseous after seeing it.
But is surimi made the same way in other countries?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 18:12:11 GMT
Sucked in by a "2-for-1" offer at the supermarket, I bought some "luxury" surimi today. This brand actually had instructions on how to make sushi with it on the package.
I have to admit that it was noticeably better than standard surimi, so I guess there is hope for this product after all. One of the amusing things about the product is that the surimi sticks were slightly irregular and the colouring was also irregular, to make it look more real. They have finally understood how all of those identical surimi sticks end up disgusting us. Frankly, I think that it would have been quite possible to pass off this stuff as real crab if prepared as sushi along with wasabi and soy sauce.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Aug 14, 2014 11:47:18 GMT
We recently were shocked to be served surimi as part of dishes in otherwise highly reputable restaurants, in Mexico City and a sushi place in NJ. The sushi chef takes great pride in his authentic, traditional sushi. The presence of surimi belies that self appointed cloak of purity.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2014 18:58:19 GMT
Oddly enough, it was just tonight that I ate the 2nd package of that 2-for-1 offer. Once again, I noticed that it was far better than normal surimi but it is still.... surimi.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Sept 3, 2014 18:57:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2016 12:13:25 GMT
Today during a bout of temporary insanity, I bought a package of vegan meatballs. I don't know what I will do with them. Let's see what they are made of: water, sunflower oil, onion, wheat protein, mustard, wheat flour, bouillon of {salt, maltodextrine, yeast extract, sugar, sunflower oil, onion, celery, garlic, lovage, corn starch, onion granules, potato protein, potato fibers, dextrose, sucrose, flavouring containing soy, soy protein, garlic, pepper, coriander, nutmeg, barley flour}, thickener. May contain nuts. Made in Belgium. imageshack.com/a/img923/4848/QFC02o.jpg
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2016 21:17:23 GMT
Let me tell you: vegan meatballs are foul.
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