62 replies to this topic

[chefjancris]

got my package recently of transglutaminase, did a quick experiment, and was thinking of what i could do with it. came up with the ever famous shrimp noodles and came out with this...

Edited by chefjancris, 20 July 2006 - 12:12 PM.

[BryanZ]

This reminds me, I forgot to post my version of shrimp noodles I made just a little while back.

Shrimp "noodles," tomato-horseradish emulsion, nori strips


And a burger of USDA Prime ribeye, bound with TG, from way back.

Nothing new under the sun here, just a practical application.

chefjancris, I'm wondering what you used to extrude the noodles. A nice dish but they look a little thick to me. My problem is finding some way to easily extrude thin, delicate noodles.

In general I've found TG to be a good but not great product. Granted, this probably has a lot to do with my lack of skill (haven't tried to make meat spaetzle or cous cous yet). It hasn't quite changed the way I cook the way I thought it would. It's still cool, though.

[s_sevilla]

An idea to further modify and alter the texture of meats, etc.:

you could try and use some papain, a common tenderizer, to break down the protein structure of whatever you are working with, then add a protease inhibitor to stop the reaction from continuing much further before modifying the structure again with the TG, perhaps this would create a smoother final product?, maybe if you found something that would attack and break down the cellulose and other fibers in red meat one could even make a beef noodle as well.

[s_sevilla]

An idea to further modify and alter the texture of meats, etc.:

you could try and use some papain, a common tenderizer, to break down the protein structure of whatever you are working with, then add a protease inhibitor to stop the reaction from continuing much further before modifying the structure again with the TG, perhaps this would create a smoother final product?, maybe if you found something that would attack and break down the cellulose and other fibers in red meat one could even make a beef noodle as well.

[s_sevilla]

Sorry about the double post, my browser went on the fritz and I hit the submit button a few times.

anyway, for some reason that steakburger just brings back all these repressed memories of the infamous McRib sandwich.

Edited by s_sevilla, 21 July 2006 - 09:40 AM.

[chefjancris]

This reminds me, I forgot to post my version of shrimp noodles I made just a little while back.

Shrimp "noodles," tomato-horseradish emulsion, nori strips


And a burger of USDA Prime ribeye, bound with TG, from way back.

Nothing new under the sun here, just a practical application.

chefjancris, I'm wondering what you used to extrude the noodles.  A nice dish but they look a little thick to me.  My problem is finding some way to easily extrude thin, delicate noodles.

In general I've found TG to be a good but not great product.  Granted, this probably has a lot to do with my lack of skill (haven't tried to make meat spaetzle or cous cous yet).  It hasn't quite changed the way I cook the way I thought it would.  It's still cool, though.

i was out of choice for equipments when i made that thing and settled on that is a marinade injector, you know those plastic ones? anyways hence the name for "udon." the trick really for getting a fine texture in your noodles is basically to pass it to a fine sive. i.e. a tamis and the most impotant part is to extrude it below the water line, that will prevent it from becoming deformed. with the mixture, i just used pure shrimp, some salt and TG. no additional water

before i also tried making one with fish and scallops, WITHOUT the TG and here what it looked like:



also one made from tiger prawns also without TG. looks kinda "wormy" i didn't pass it through a tamis... well, my bad. hehe.




and as for the cous cous, here's my take with squid instead

[BryanZ]

i was out of choice for equipments when i made that thing and settled on that is a marinade injector, you know those plastic ones? anyways hence the name for "udon." the trick really for getting a fine texture in your noodles is basically to pass it to a fine sive. i.e. a tamis and the most impotant part is to extrude it below the water line, that will prevent it from becoming deformed. with the mixture, i just used pure shrimp, some salt and TG. no additional water

Great post jancris. I have some questions and comments.

By the way, I've thought of using a marinade injector, too, but I've got my own home-made shiboriki-type aparatus. Anyway, my problem is that it seems to set up really fast once the TG is mixed in and becomes almost gluey. This makes it seem like passing through the tamis would be very difficult. I've heard Wylie say the same thing, and I don't think he passes it through the tamis based on a couple of my experiences with his product. What if we added more water or liquid to the paste either before or after tamis-ing? Would this make them smoother still?

before i also tried making one with fish and scallops, WITHOUT the TG and here what it looked like:

Are you using any other kind of binder, like egg whites? Do they set up on their own? Are you still passing through the tamis?

and as for the cous cous, here's my take with squid instead

How do you do that?? I haven't had the shrimp cous cous at wd~50.

Edited by BryanZ, 21 July 2006 - 04:09 PM.

[BryanZ]

one could even make a beef noodle as well.

A very interesting idea, though I'm not entirely sure what the end product would be beyond the theoretical description you provide.

Beef noodles have been made before, though from what I've heard, they're not spectacular.

[Shalmanese]

based on what I remember from ICA, doesnt he pass it through a tamis before adding the tg?

[BryanZ]

Shoot, I may have been proven incorrect. I think you're right; good catch.

[chefjancris]

Shoot, I may have been proven incorrect.  I think you're right; good catch.

what ratio are you using the TG? i think the idea here is to work fast since if your add in the TG after it had been passed through a tamis it would be very hard to fully incorporate the product. and as what he told me, i did it exactly the way he told me to.

for the other noodles, the one with shrimp i used egg whites and cornstarch and some water to get it flowing a little bit while the one with the fish i used egg whites and rice flour, the texture ain't quite as nice though, you don't get the chewiness you get from the shrimp.

and yes the one with the fish i did pass it through a tamis.

Edited by chefjancris, 22 July 2006 - 09:00 AM.

[BryanZ]

Cous cous? Please.

[bunny]

did we ever find out how to make the cous cous.

[bunny]

cous cous

no one knows how

[taurusliuwen]

I know another TG manufacturer:Kinry company,they produce Biobond TG, it can bring the same effect but the price being much lower.If interested,you guys can contact Email:transglutaminase@live.cn

[FoodMan]

What is the Transglutaminase "shelf-life". At L'epicerie they ask for it to be stored in the freezer and used ASAP after the package is opened. So if I by a couple of pounds can I store any unused in the freezer and go through it in a matter of a year or so? Or do I only have weeks??

[Tri2Cook]

So if I by a couple of pounds can I store any unused in the freezer and go through it in a matter of a year or so? Or do I only have weeks??

I was discussing (via email) this very subject with Chad Galiano from the Chadzilla blog back in June. I knew they were using a lot more of it than I do so I asked him what they were seeing for shelf life and what tricks they were using to maximize it (if any). This was his reply...

My best answer is about 2 months if all conditions are ideal. When we open a bag, I plan ahead to have all of my plastic bags lined up and labelled. I cut the bag, weigh out 50g amounts to go into each bag, vacuum seal all of them, and go straight to the freezer. Honestly, I have never gone through an entire 1Kg without throwing some out.

I've been doing it that way since and I've found it to be a pretty accurate timeframe with both GS and RM. It sucks having to throw it away since it's not particularly cheap but, unless you have a lot of projects in mind, you just have to expect it and try not to worry over it.

[demo5]

Does anyone know if you can use meat glue to bind together chicken skins?

Thanks

[Tri2Cook]

Does anyone know if you can use meat glue to bind together chicken skins?

Thanks

Yes.

[Broken English]

I have been having a little trouble binding meat to the same level as some of the posts I've seen on here, is it simply a matter of using more TG, or less?
I've not tried it for anything more ambitious than binding together a rolled stuffed roast lamb saddle, but I found I had to tie it anyway. I just sprinkle a fine dust on, brush excess off with a brush, roll in cling film and refrigerate for 4-6 hours. It sort of binds, but not to the level I was expecting. Is there a technique I'm missing out on here?

[slkinsey]

Yes. Don't brush it off. A fine but thorough dusting is what you want. Also, how fresh is your Activa?

[Broken English]

Only got it a few weeks ago. Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a go soon.

[Toufas]

Hello. I am very interested in activa but I can't seem to find the difference between the gs and the eb versions.

[lesliec]

Hi Toufas.

Try cookingissues. They have a good breakdown of the different types, including GS. They don't mention EB - did you mean GB?

Happy glueing ...

[Broken English]

I've just returned from a stage at WD-50. I've never seen a place use so much meat glue in such creative applications, even to treat knife cuts, haha. Amazing learning experience.

[Charcuterer]

I am in the process of curing a pancetta and was wondering if Activa could be used to bind the meat while it dries? I will be rolling it as usual but it would be cool to have it hold its shape without ties. Also, If I can use it for that purpose, how long would I need to keep it compressed before it would hold together?

[OliverB]

I haven't played with this stuff yet, but I just had the vision of bacon ravioli, bacon stuffed with something good and sealed with TG all around, then fried up. Would that work? Bacon pocket with gooey cheese or something like that inside?

[tammylc]

Does anyone have a recipe for using Transglutaminase to make peanut butter noodles? I've seen lots of references to the techique, but nothing with even an idea of proportions. Thanks!

[Broken English]

I don't have a recipe, but I know you need to melt gelatine into the peanut butter first, then use a robot coupe to add the meat glue. I don't think the amount of gelatine is critical, so long as you have enough for the glue to bond with.

[lesliec]

Hi all.

I was a little undecided about where to post this - it would fit in 'Dinner' or a 'What I did for Christmas' thread quite happily - but in the end, since the common factor in all my recent experiments has been transglutaminase, I figured this would be the place.

I've had some difficulty finding TG in New Zealand. I first started looking for it in 2009 without much luck; I created an eG thread asking about a local source and met some nice eG people online as a result, but no glue was forthcoming. I went off the idea for a while, then when thinking about what I might do for Christmas dinner this year came up with the idea (I know, I'm not the first!) of turducken using only turckey, duck and chicken breasts stuck together with TG. Another search was started, using one or two contacts I didn't have three years ago, and ...


I hadn't previously heard of Dunninghams, but they've been supplying the food trade with equipment, tools and ingredients for some 90 years, it seems. Normally they sell TG in 1kg bags but they also break it down into 50g 'samples' for $NZ20, which is just about my speed. One surprise was the manufacturer - I'd always had the impression only Ajinomoto made TG, but this one appears to come from Australia.

My first experiment was squid 'pasta', trying to get an effect I'd had at Gelonch in Barcelona last year. Short version - success notably lacking! I used 2 - 3% TG to the weight of the pulverised squid, but it didn't really come together in the way I'd hoped. I need to do some more reseach on these fish noodley things before I try that one again.

Next I tried a stringless filet mignon. First I laid out some strips of streaky bacon (Pestell's from Rai Valley, if you're interested. Nice stuff) on a sheet of kitchen wrap:


Then I sprinkled the TG (the lines are from brushing it evenly over the surface with a silicone pastry brush):


Next, a nice bit of eye fillet, silverskin and other odd bits trimmed:


Starting to roll ...


... and done:


The whole thing then spent a day or so in the fridge before I vacuum-sealed and froze it, ready for some sous vide treatment in due course. The bacon appears to have adhered very well, and I look forward to trying the result.

Now we come to Christmas dinner. The first course was a variation of the 'fish checkerboard' written about in Modernist Cuisine and elsewhere. I used strips of monkfish and salmon, did the same sprinkle technique as above and, after 24 hours or so resting in the fridge, the result was this:


Into a pan with hot oil (my own bay-infused olive oil) - one side done and sprinkled with salt:


And cut into serving pieces. The monkfish was a little underdone but it didn't seem to matter - next time I'll probably include a sous vide step to ensure everything is fully cooked:


The adhesion of the pieces was good. I'm very much coming round to the view I've seen elsewhere, that measuring the TG isn't vital; you just need an even coating. There's probably a Goldilocks factor - not too much, not too little. I didn't do a photo of the plated dish, unfortunately, but it was very pretty and worth trying again.

This post is getting a little large. I'll conclude at this point and start a new one for the turducken.