Process Optimization Of Chinese Fast Food—Pork Chop Rice

A Chinese fast food- the pork chop rice is very popular in Guangdong and Hongkong, because of its good taste and nutrition. However, since the quick moisture loss from the pork chop rice, the tenderness of pork chop and the water in steamed rice are difficult to control after cooking, the quality of this meal is variable. To solve these problems, this study investigated the process improvement of pork chop rice from two aspects: pork chop and frozen rice. The main conclusions are as follows:1. To control the quality of pork chops before processing, the texture of pork chops were investigated and the best pork chop with snowflake texture was selected. The rate of fat loss in pork chop is about 45% and the mass loss is about 4g per 100 g pork chop after machine pressing.2. Using xanthan gum and ginger as additives can maintain the water retention and increasing tender of pork chop. After adding 0.1% and 0.2% xanthan gum, the water holding capacity of pork chop were 82.75 and 83.92, respectively. To evaluate the 9 different kinds of pork chop cooked with different formula of xanthan gum and ginger juice, we used the fuzzy mathematics method which showed that the best formula was 5% of ginger juice and 0.1% of xanthan gum, which produced the best tenderness and moisture. The pork chop was texted by a Texture Analyzer, and results showed that the adhesion was-4.00, the shearing force was 2.00, the solidity was 29.00, the cohesion was 0.50, the chewiness was 7.00, and the elasticity was 1.01. All of the parameters were in good level in the 9 different groups of pork chop tested.3. Different freezing methods to preserve the pickled pork have been investigated. Data showed that the minimal time of frozen pork chop passing through the maximum ice formation zones by dry ice treatment was 2h, which is shorter than the normal-18℃ treatment. Moreover, results showed that when the pork chop was fried at 200℃ for 50 s, then baked at 220℃ for 7 min, the pork-chop’s meat quality and taste was the best.4. To test the gelatinization time and water absorption property of rice, we concluded that the gelatinization time of rice is 19 min, and water absorption capacity is 289.5%. It provided us with the parameters for designing steaming time, braising time and the ratio of rice and water in later orthogonal test. In order to improve the quality of frozen steamed rice, water-soluble soybean polysaccharide(SSPS) was used to controll the steaming and braising time and the ratio of rice and water etc. Results in this study displayed that the optimum process for frozen steamed rice should be: the rice water ratio =1.3:1.11, the steaming time =25 min, the braising time =10 min, the amount of SSPS =0.9%. Under the above conditions, the quick-frozen steamed rice produced has the character of good dispersion, less water loss and good taste.In summary, this study improved the quality of Chinese fast meal- pork chop rice by optimization of the technology of pork chop and steamed rice. The addition of a formula of ginger juice and xanthan gum played a very good effect on pork tenderness and moisture. Using SSPS has good effect on tenderization of steamed rice. All of these technologies can reduce the processing time of the central kitchen and stores with less cost. which is expected to be extended in food industries.