The overall process of brewing instant rice

Convenience staple food manufacturing refers to the production of products that use rice, flour, miscellaneous grains, etc. as raw materials, and can be used directly or simply cooked as staple food. It mainly includes square noodles, instant rice, instant frozen food, prepared cereals, etc. China's economic development and the accelerated pace of people's lives have provided conditions for the development of the main and staple food industry. The market demand for Chinese instant staple food has steadily increased in recent years. At present, the main staple food in China is instant noodles, the total amount of which is already the largest in the world, reaching 182.4 tons in 2002, but the per capita amount is still relatively low. According to the latest market research, The convenience staple food industry is one of the industries with the most development potential in the future food industry.

Types of instant rice

Instant rice is mainly composed of three parts: staple rice, side dishes and seasonings. There are many kinds of them, which can be divided into quick-cooked rice (α-rice), canned rice, soft-canned rice (cooked rice), aseptically packaged rice, frozen rice, refrigerated rice and dried rice according to different processing methods. category.

According to the way of eating, instant rice can be divided into two types:

One is dehydrated dry rice, which is a dehydrated and dried rice product that is ready to eat after being rehydrated in hot water for a few minutes. Dehydrated dry rice is divided into Yihua rice, frozen rice, puffed rice, etc.

The other is finished rice, that is, non-dehydrated dry rice. This product does not need to be rehydrated before eating. It can be eaten after opening the package. It can also be heated before eating.

Processing principle

The processing of instant rice is based on the phenomenon of starch gelatinization and retrogradation. More than 70% of the rice ingredients are starch. When the moisture content is suitable, when heated to a certain temperature, the starch will undergo gelatinization (cooking) and denature. The degree of starch gelatinization is mainly controlled by moisture and temperature. The gelatinized rice grains should be quickly dehydrated to fix the molecular structure of the gelatinized starch and prevent the aging and retrogradation of the starch. The retrograded starch will give the product a stiff, sluggish appearance and a taste similar to that of raw rice. Moreover, it is difficult for amylases in the human body to act on the retrograded starch, thereby greatly reducing the digestion and utilization rate of rice.

Quality Index

The evaluation of the quality of dehydrated instant rice mainly depends on its rehydration time and rehydration. The shorter the rehydration time, the better. For instant rice, whether it is eaten directly, rehydrated or heated, the rice must have a soft and dry taste, the rice grains are separated from each other and not stick to each other, with a typical rice flavor, no sticking to the teeth, and no entrapment phenomenon.