EVF2033: English in Food Science and Technology

TOPIC 12 HANDOUT
MEAT AND FISH PRODUCTS

1. VOCABULARY
Write down new words (to you) and look up in the dictionary for their meanings

1
 EVF2033: English in Food Science and Technology

2. READING
A. NƯỚC MẮM
• “Nước mắm” (fish sauce) is eaten by large proportion of the population. However,
mostly it is used to give rice a good flavor and aroma and 40 - 50 cm3 may be
consumed over two meals. This would give a salt intake of 12 - 13g per day. The sauce
is a clear brown liquid with a distinctive meaty. The taste is predominantly salty but
the contribution of many other compounds, including the volatiles, is very apparent.
Generally the cheaper products have far less aroma and often they are more bitter to
the Western taste.
• Fish sauce is manufactured through fermentation process for 3–12 months, in which
fish and salt are previously mixed thoroughly at a ratio of 1:3. After 4–6-month period,
a liquid containing fish extract is obtained in fermentation tanks. That liquid is actually
fish sauce.
• After fermentation the pots are carefully removed and after a few days of setting the
supernatant liquor is decanted off carefully. Nowadays in some areas, larger vats fitted
with taps near the bottom are used, and the partly fermented mixtures from a number
of village sites are combined and fermented further. In some cases the initial bloody
liquid (Nước bổi) is drained off. Some of this is added back to the vat and some is
returned at a later date. The period of fermentation can be about 6 months for the small
fish and up to 18 months for the larger species.
• A common procedure adopted at a factory site is to remove some but not all of the
supernatant when it is formed. This is referred to as first quality 'nước mắm' or ‘nước-
cốt’. The residual mass, which contains some of the supernatant liquor is then extracted
with boiling seawater to lixivate the fish and the liquid is then referred to as second
quality. Sometimes several vats are extracted with the same brine. The extraction
procedure may be repeated to give poorer qualities of nước mắm. These extracts may
be improved by the addition of higher qualities of ‘nước mắm’.
• Generally, the lower quality sauces have poorer keeping properties as they may have
a low salt concentration. They may be improved by the addition of caramel, molasses,
roasted maize or roasted barley to the fish before the second and subsequent
extractions. This improves the color and also improves the keeping qualities. An
advantage with these poorer quality sauces is that more may be consumed so that the
protein obtained from them may be near to that of first quality sauce. The undissolved
residue (xác mắm) is used for animal foodstuffs. The decomposition of the fish flesh
was complete after 4-5 months, although the ammonia concentration continued to
increase. The nitrogen content varied with the quality of sauce being offered for sale.
• Brewing And Pressing Method: This is the oldest method, possibly dating back more
than 300 years in Phan Thiet town and then popular with Phu Quoc island fish sauce
over 100 years ago. Fresh anchovies after landing into shore will be carefully
selected, washed and mixed with sea salt in the ratio of 3 fish: 1 salt. That means
every 3 tons of fish will be mixed with 1 ton of clean sea salt. After mixing according

2
 EVF2033: English in Food Science and Technology
to the above ratio, all will be put in a wooden barrel made of local wood, reinforced
by large ropes made of wild rattan.
• Accordingly, will use 3 types of wooden barrels, drying barrels, mixing barrels and
finished product containing barrels. The types barrels have different sizes. The
smaller one, called the no.3 tank, can hold about 4 tons of fish, and the bigger one
can contain 5-6 tons of fish. Particularly with these fish/salt mixing barrels, down at
the bottom of the barrel, there will be a spigot to extract fish sauce drops.
• After we put the fish and salt mix in the wooden barrels, then spread a layer of salt on
top and place a bamboo tray on the surface and put heavy stones on top, so that the
fish won’t float. Due to this compacting, the internal heat in fish makes the active
yeast increase, the center gradually accumulates gas NH3, CO2, H2S … making the
fish swell, the fish meat is torn but the bones and skin are still intact.
• After about 3-4 days, fish sauce makers will open the spigot at the bottom of the
barrel to let the fish drain. This fluid is called immature mulberry juice, containing
protein from enzymes in the fish’s gut but still has a fishy smell and has not yet been
ready for eating. After continuing rinsing, the fish is flat, the fish with salt is mixed
again, repeating this process for 3 times to bring out the older aged liquid. This liquid
is to be aged for 6 months and then pour back into the fish tank.
• The next round of fish sauce to be drained from the tank is called the long aged fish
sauce. Then this water will be added to other fish barrels to increase the protein.
These barrels were salted at the same time, and have been incubated for the same
length of time. The final liquid goes through the barrels will be the finest, most
delicious fish sauce.
• This whole process can last from 12 to 15 months or even 24 months. These first drops
of the fine fish sauce are called original (virgin) press fish sauce or most premium
press, the next ones are called the first press fish sauce, the second press fish sauce …
The original press fish sauce can be eaten immediately or mixed with the first press
fish sauce or the second press fish sauce to create different types of fish sauce with
lower quality

B. SAUSAGES

They are some categories of sausage: Fresh sausage, Cooked sausage, Semi-dry and dry
sausage, and specialty meats.
• Fresh sausages: Fresh sausages are made from fresh meats which are, as a rule, neither
cured, smoked, fermented nor cooked. Fresh sausages must be kept under refrigeration
prior to eating. They are heated by the consumer himself before serving.
• Fermented sausage: Fermented sausages are made from cured or uncured, fermented
and often smoked meats but they are not heat processed, they are divided into semi-
dry and dry sausages.
• Smoked precooked: Smoked precooked sausages are mostly cured, non fermented
products; their shelf life is increased by heating due to partial reduction of their
moisture content; they are usually finally cooked before consumption.
• Emulsion-type sausages: Emulsion-type sausages comprise ready-to-eat products
made from comminuted and wellhomogenized cured meats, fatty tissue, water and
seasonings, usually smoked and slightly cooked. In Europe, these sausages are known

3
 EVF2033: English in Food Science and Technology
as “scalded” because they are only scalded (pasteurized) and not fully cooked. Cooked
sausages
• Cooked sausages are ready-to-serve products, basically made from previously cooked
fresh or exceptionally cured raw materials, subjected to final cooking after stuffing,
with or without additional smoking. A subgroup of these sausages consists of cooked
or baked specialties that are not stuffed into casings but moulded and, therefore, not
always considered as sausages.

• Here are the main steps of producing standard sausage:

◆ Choice of meat ingredients
Beyond all doubt, the selection of meat ingredients is the crucial link in the incipient
phase of sausage production. The raw meat selected for sausage products should come
from healthy livestock, and meanwhile the meat should be fresh, good, clean and
healthy that has passed the inspection, without any bacteria or other microorganisms.
◆ Meat ingredients comminution
This step is also called grinding process, aiming at reducing particles of meat.
Comminution is the process of grinding raw meat from large to small and to minute
particles through industrial sausage stuffer machine, so as for better emulsification and
easy incorporation into sausage.
◆ Blending all ingredients for emulsification
In order to dissolve and swell the meat protein, additional stirring before further
processing is called mixing. Here, we need some essential non-meat ingredients to
stabilize the mixture and make sausage with better flavor, including salt, starch, water,
antioxidant, and other spices or flavorings, etc. Through sufficient blending, lean meat
and fat particles are evenly dispersed in a complex of water, proteins, cellular
components, and various flavorings. In this process, bowl chopper machine is used.
◆ Stuffing &filling
This step mainly refers to putting the prepared meat into the casing or container,
forming the case-hardened sausage products. The quality of stuffing has a big effect
on the quality of finished sausage products, so we recommend a professional sausage
stuffer machine to high-efficiency and high-grade filling work. After meat stuffing, the
sausage are typed by sausage clipper machine.
◆ Smoking Process
Smoking process is also necessary because it can endow the sausage with a unique
smoky flavor, improving the color of the sausage. At the same time, it also can realize
dehydration and sterilization, enhancing the preservation of the product.
Here, professional meat smoking machine will be very helpful.
◆ Package & storage
Finally, the finished sausage products, especially for sale, should be packed and
preserved without delay in order to keep the freshness and good quality for a long time

Exercise 1: Read the text (handout) to answer the following questions:

Q1: What is ‘nước-mắm’ in Vietnam? What kinds of "nước mắm" are usually
consumed in Vietnam?
Q2: How long has the fermentation times of fish been used for production of ‘nước-
mắm’ in Vietnam?
Q3: How many steps of sausage producing?
4
 EVF2033: English in Food Science and Technology
• Q4: What is ingrident of sausages? What are the raw materials for making sausages?

3. LISTENING
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMgkh6at17A
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkpSi06-WzQ

4. WRITING
Exercise 1: Translation into English
1. Thịt lợn rất giàu thiamin so với tất cả các loại động vật khác
2. Một trong những vitamin nhạy cảm nhất là thiamin; nó vừa tan trong nước vừa
không bền với nhiệt.
3. Thận là một nguồn giàu B1, B2 và B12.
4. Cholesterol là một hợp chất béo liên quan đến việc vận chuyển chất béo trong dòng
máu.

Exercise 2: Translation into Vietnamese

1. The other parts of the animal - liver, heart, brains pancreas (gut sweetbread) thymus
(chest sweetbread), tripe, feet (trotters), tail, testes (fries), intestines (chitterlings),
cheek meat and head meat and fat (tallow, lard, suet) - are collectively called offal,
variety meats, side meats or organ meats in various countries.
2. Intestines are used as containers for sausages of the different types, blood may be
used in sausages, pork skins may be eaten or used as a source of gelatin. In addition,
some inedible by-products such as bone meal can be used as a mineral supplement in
animal feed and there are other inedible by-products of economic value such as hides
and horns.
3. These days, most fish sauce from Vietnam comes from the southern island of Phú
Quốc, where cá cơm or black anchovies breed in the clear Andaman Sea. Though
other seaside provinces bottle fish sauce too, Phú Quốc’s fish sauce is regarded as the
best in the country. The process begins on the boat, when fishermen store each catch
of black anchovies by layering it with salt. The quality of the salt is important, and
top brands invest in excellent salt to flavour their fish.
4. Back on land, the salted fish is transferred to large wooden barrels to begin an aging
process that may last up to 12 months. The type of wood adds to the flavour of the
finished product -- premium wooden barrels lend deeper umami taste to the sauce.
Nước mắm specialists monitor the barrels, taste the sauce, and decide when a batch is
ready to be pressed. The most expensive fish sauce is drawn directly from the first
press of a single vat, and is unmixed with other batches or diluted with water.

Exercise 3: Write a paragraph (about 100 words) about your knowledge about “nem
chua” processing steps?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………....
5