2024's Ultimate Tropical Surimi Handbook

In the seafood industry, surimi and surimi seafood are famous among culinary fans. Well, surimi seafood is processed surimi, a fish myofibrillar protein.

Diving deeper into the world of surimi, you might now wonder what tropical surimi is. This term basically refers to the type of surimi that comes from Southeast Asia.

This whole article will give you a bunch of information regarding tropical surimi. Starting from what kind of surimi it is to everything you might have in mind about tropical surimi, let’s look over it!

Tropical Surimi: What’s Special About It?

Those who have just entered the world of surimi might have no idea what tropical surimi is. So, what is tropical surimi? Is it just a kind of surimi that comes from Southeast Asia? Well, it is much more than that.

Other resources for surimi production are tropical fish, such as threadfin bream and lizardfish, which are from Southeast Asia. Because of this, surimi that is made with the main source of tropical fish is named tropical surimi.

Historically, Japan has been developing surimi globally since the early 1980s. In 2012, just for tropical surimi, it reached almost 60% of global production, according to Guenneugues at the 12th Surimi Industry Forum.

Indonesia, as part of Southeast Asia, started its journey in surimi production from bycatch in the 1990s. Indonesia’s role in Southeast Asia will continue to grow since the role of the tropical surimi producer in this industry has been remarkably expanded.

Other Southeast Asian countries, and even China, have also been taking part in the global production of tropical surimi. This led to tropical surimi gaining huge popularity across the world.

Types of Tropical Surimi

There are various types of tropical surimi that serve you with their own uniqueness. Explore more:

1. Itoyori

The first type of tropical surimi is itoyori (threadfin bream). In Japan, particularly in the south, itoyori surimi is very popular.

Itoyori is the preferred raw material in Southeast Asia due to its white color, smooth texture, and ease of processing. Nowadays, itoyori surimi are primarily imported from countries like Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia.  

2. Kintokidai

Kintokidai, also known as big eye snapper, is one of the types of tropical surimi. The kintokidai keeps better in the freezer than the itoyori does.

The Kintokidai are part of the Priacanthidae family. Red kintokidai are huge and produce white meat with a high gel, whereas grayish kintokidai are small and produce darker meat with a low gel; both types are found in Southeast Asia. 

Combinations of large kintokidai and threadfin bream are common in Vietnamese cuisine. The smaller one is typically reserved for low-quality surimi.

3. Eso

As a premium surimi ingredient, lizardfish (eso in Japanese) has long been valued. With its white appearance, distinctive flavor, and firm gel-forming consistency, eso has high meat production.

To make crabsticks, fish balls, and lots of other treats, Thais sometimes use eso together with itoyori. In Europe, eso is an alternative for Alaskan pollock while making crabsticks.

4. Guchi

The other type of tropical surimi is guchi, also known as croacker. Guchi consists of two main species, which are kiguchi (jew fish) and shiroguchi (croacker).

Many in Japan's traditional kamaboko industry choose surimi made from jew fish, or kiguchi, since it is white and has a lot of gel. Unlike kamaboko prepared with Alaska pollock, this one uses kiguchi surimi, which gives it a unique taste and different texture.

On the other hand, processed in India as a singular species, shiroguchi is characterized by a low gel and a darker color. Shiroguchi is a common ingredient in Vietnamese and Chinese, often used in mixed-fish surimi.

5. Renkodai

Among the many fish species utilized in Southeast Asia, renkodai is a kind of sea bream. There are two species of seabream: renkodai, also called yellowback seabream, and hirekodai, often called threadfin porgy. 

Both renkodai and hirekodai surimi are considered high quality; they have a high gel content and are both white in color, making them similar to itoyori surimi.

Fun Fact: Tropical fish species used to produce tropical surimi are typically small-sized fish (30–50 g).

 6. Himeji

Himeji surimi is mostly produced in Thailand, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The tropical fish used in himeji surimi are goatfish and red mullet, the small one.

The skin color of the fish used for himeji surimi made it slightly pinkish. This type of surimi usually has low gel strength, like guchi surimi.

The Unique Properties of Tropical Surimi

1. The Process

Due to their small size, tropical fish that are used to make tropical surimi are first headed and gutted by hand (H&G) before they are put into the deboning machine. Some fish may become biochemically decomposable and stinky as a result of this process.

As a result, a fish cleaning tank is a must for all H&G fish used in tropical surimi production. 

2. Color

Tropical surimi that comes from dark-fleshed fish must go through air-flotation washing (AFW). Many researchers believe that AFW is an effective method for discoloring dark-fleshed fish.

AFW basically removes myoglobin without the need for ozone-included oxidation, impacting the improvement in color and shortened time for enhancing gel-forming ability.  

3. Fat Content and Fat Removal

The tropical fish used as the raw material to produce tropical surimi have a higher fat content compared to Alaska pollock, Pacific whiting, and hoki. However, by the end of the washing cycle, the tropical fish will have had any floating fat removed.

This aims to maintain the low fat content so that tropical surimi may achieve optimal gel strength and extend the frozen shelf life.

Conclusion

All in all, tropical surimi is much more than just the types of surimi that come from Southeast Asia. This article has been taking you on the flavorful journey of tropical surimi. Starting from the types of tropical surimi to the unique properties of tropical surimi.

As surimi and surimi seafood have become more and more popular in the culinary industry, you must know more than just surimi in general. Get yourself ready for the dynamic world of surimi seafood, where tropical surimi plays a major role as your secret culinary weapon!

FAQs about Tropical Surimi

Among all the types of tropical surimi, which one has the highest contribution to the market?

Compared to the other tropical surimi productions, Itoyori has been leading the industry’s massive production in Southeast Asia due to high demand.

Where can I buy tropical surimi?

If you are looking to purchase tropical surimi, visit our tropical surimi product page to find out more.