The properties of surimi and kamaboko gels from nine British species of fish

Summary This paper describes the preparation and properties of surimi and derived kamaboko gels from a range of British‐caught species of teleost (or bony) fish including white fish (fillets, trimmings and skeletons), fatty fish and an elasmobranch (or cartilaginous) fish. The data include yields, moisture and fat contents, water‐binding capacities, pH values and Hunter L,a,b colour values as well as sensory and instrumentally measured indices of texture. Cod, haddock and whiting fillets and trimmings of haddock and whiting yielded surimi and derived gels with functional properties most closely approaching those of the Alaska pollack surimi used as a standard. Saithe gave a gel which was firm and elastic but which had a low water‐binding capacity and was dark in colour. The fatty fish yielded surimi with some potentially useful functional properties but colour and water‐binding capacity were inferior to pollack surimi.