Boneless Fish is a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

-based frozen food brand and grocery product, the process in the production of which was invented by Dairei Corporation (大冷株式会社) of Japan in 1998. It is essentially a fish that has been scaled, gutted and deboned by a skilled worker before being reassembled with a

transglutaminase Transglutaminases are enzymes that in nature primarily catalyze the formation of an isopeptide bond between γ- carboxamide groups ( -(C=O)NH2 ) of glutamine residue side chains and the ε-amino groups ( -NH2 ) of lysine residue side ...

to look like a dressed fish (fish gutted and with its head and

fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

removed). The fish is then flash-frozen and packaged, remaining uncooked. It is possible to manufacture a boneless fish with head and fins intact, but it had been found to be impractical.

Purpose

The Boneless Fish product was initially intended to feed three groups: the elderly, hospital patients, and schoolchildren. It differs from an ordinary frozen fish fillet in that the content of a Boneless Fish pack looks just like a dressed fish. The product is cooked in the same manner as an ordinary fish. Dairei began to market it to families in 2002. It had been found to be advantageous to consumers in that aside from being easy to prepare, cooking the brand's boneless fish at home—as against the usual market fish—generates a very small amount of waste.

Production

The production of Boneless Fish is labor-intensive. Dairei set up

HACCP Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP (), is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe and designs mea ...

-certified factories in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, China and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, where its workers cut open the fish and use a pair of

tweezers Tweezers are small hand tools used for grasping objects too small to be easily handled with the human fingers. Tweezers are thumb-driven forceps most likely derived from tongs used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history. ...

to remove the bones. The end product is then examined to make sure that it is free of bones and then "glued back together" using a food-grade

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

produced by

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, ...

. The

binding agent used in Boneless Fish is a

(product name: Activa TG-B) separated from a culture of '' Streptoverticillium mobaraense''. It works by binding the collagen in the fish tissue. At temperatures under 5 °C, it may take several hours for the enzyme to do its job properly.

Similar products

The popularity of meatless fish inspired another technology-intensive Japanese product, "Fish with Delicious Bones" (骨までおいしい魚; ''honemade oishii sakana''), which has been on sale since 2004. The fish, in the form of a butterfly fillet, is prepared by a

patent pending "Patent pending" (sometimes abbreviated by "pat. pend." or "pat. pending") or "patent applied for" are legal designations or expressions that can be used in relation to a product or process once a patent application for the product or process ...

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

that uses heat and pressure to tenderize fish bones. The entire fish, including the head and fins, becomes completely edible, much like what happens to

canned sardines Sardines ("pilchards") are a nutrient-rich, small, oily fish widely consumed by humans and as forage fish by larger fish species, seabirds and marine mammals. Sardines are a source of omega-3 fatty acids. Sardines are often served in cans, but c ...

. It is a joint claimed invention of Maruha Corporation (株式会社マルハ) and Miyajima Soysauce Corporation (宮島醤油株式会社). Another similar product is "Cold Set Bound Fish Kebabs", made from alternating layers of

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

"glued together" by

.Innovation Product Library
see page 18, "Cold Set Bound Fish Kebabs"

References

External links

(in Japanese)

(便利？それともおせっかい？賛否両論の「骨なし魚」; in Japanese)
Ajinomoto: Enzyme for Binder and Texture improver

(in Japanese) * (filed 1 July 1991, granted 20 October 1992) A transglutaminase catalyzing an acyl transfer reaction of a Γ-carboxyamide group of a glutamine residue in a peptide or protein chain in the absence of Cz²⁺ * (filed 28 November 1995, granted 19 August 1997) Process for producing bound-formed food by Ajinomoto * (filed 1 July 1997, granted 19 October 1999){{spaced ndash Enzyme preparation for use in the binding of food materials and process for producing bound food Japanese brand foods Patented foods Edible fish Fish dishes Products introduced in 1998

Purpose

Production

Similar products

See also

References

External links