鉄工所生まれの新食材

[From December Issue 2011]

Setotekkou Co.,Ltd.

Setotekkou Co., Ltd is a company in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, which despite being an ironworks, has attracted a lot of attention from the food industry. For 18 years the company has manufactured rice crackers that are so thin (less than 0.2 millimeters) that they resemble sheets of paper. The only other ingredient added to the rice is locally produced iriko (sardines that have been boiled and dried).

The impetus for this development was a newspaper article about children who had broken bones simply by kicking a ball. The company considered how they might turn local iriko, which contains a lot of calcium, into something a little more appetizing. That is how they created the rice crackers. When they distributed the product to elementary schools for free, it became the talk of the town.

They managed to process the iriko using the “instant high-temperature high-pressure firing” method. In just one second, while high pressure is applied, the ingredients are cooked to the core with temperatures of approximately 220 degrees, thus sealing in the nutrients inside. In recent years, the method has evolved further, and the company has developed a technique to press hard foodstuffs such as oysters – a specialty of Hiroshima – and pumpkins, as well as grains, in large quantities. Now, the product range has increased to 50 items.

The instant high-temperature high-pressure firing method makes it possible to process vegetables and other ingredients, while retaining their bright colors. This method is expected to be applied to various foodstuffs because it can seal in their natural nutrients without using any additives.

It has also been discovered that foodstuffs processed by this method extract nutrients more efficiently than other methods. This means that nutrients can be extracted faster and in higher concentrations from ingredients. If you eat soup stock made from such ingredients as shiitake mushrooms, crabs and shrimps, you can absorb more nutrients more quickly. Since the method is very effective in making products that can be prepared simply by pouring boiling water over them, it has also astonished the food industry.

Furthermore, foodstuffs processed by this method are noted for their shelf life. Since the ingredients contain no water, they can last two to three years at room temperature. If tomatoes are ground into powder, all of their natural nutrients can be preserved. Since these dry powdered foodstuffs are completely new, there has been one inquiry after another from restaurants both at home and abroad.

UEDA Koji, who is in charge of development, says, “It may seem that development has been going smoothly, but after we discovered the efficacy of the method, we had to go through a period of trial and error. The method was originally discovered using techniques employed in our ironworks. All kinds of ingredients were brought in, and we went to a lot of trouble searching for the most appropriate temperature and time period for each ingredient, feeling our way forward to explore the possibilities of the method.”

In 2010, the company began research into increasing food self-sufficiency by utilizing waste and unused ingredients; such as by reusing the remains of squeezed lemons that were normally thrown away. Taking advantage of the ingredients’ long shelf life, they are now doing research into developing emergency foods for disaster victims and space food. Their research into creating smaller portions and increasing the efficiency of nutrient absorption will be increasingly useful in today’s aging society. Flooded with requests for trial products from across Japan, the company is expected to play an even more important role in the future.

Setotekkou Co.,Ltd.

Text: TAKAHASHI Yoshinori

[2011年12月号掲載記事]

有限会社瀬戸鉄工

広島県呉市に、鉄工所でありながら食品業界で大変な注目を集める企業、有限会社瀬戸鉄工があります。18年間ロングセラーを続ける、厚さは0.2ミリ以下というまるで紙のようなせんべいをつくっています。これは、地元特産のイリコ(煮て干したイワシ)だけしか使われていないのです。

開発のきっかけは、「ボールを蹴っただけで骨折」という新聞の記事でした。カルシウムを多く含んだ、地元のイリコを何とか食べやすい形に変えられないだろうか。そんな思いから生み出され、小学校で無料配布したところ、話題を呼びました。

この加工を可能にしたのが「瞬間高温高圧焼成法」。約1秒で食材を加圧しながら約220度前後の高温で芯まで焼き上げ、その成分を中に閉じ込めるという技術です。近年、さらに進化をとげ、広島特産のカキや大豆、カボチャなど硬い食材や穀物などを大量にプレス加工する技術も開発しました。今や商品は50品にまで増えています。

瞬間高温高圧焼成法を利用すれば、野菜などの食材も鮮やかな色を残したまま加工することも可能です。添加物を加えることなく、自然そのままの栄養を逃がさず閉じ込められることから、様々な食材で応用できると期待されています。

また、この製法で加工した食材は、栄養分の溶出効果が高いことがわかりました。同量の原料でも、早く濃い栄養分を取ることができるのです。シイタケ、カニ、エビなどのだしでも、より早く、多くの栄養分を取ることができます。水出しなどでも効果を発揮し、食品業界からも驚かれています。

保存能力も注目されています。水を加えないため、常温で2~3年の保存が可能です。トマトなども、粉末にすれば天然の栄養分のすべてが保存できます。粉末としてのドライな食材はまったく新しい食材だと、国内だけでなく海外のレストランからも引き合いが相次いでいます。

開発担当の上田耕士さんは話します。「順調に開発は進んでいるようにみえますが、効能がわかってからが苦労の連続でした。元々鉄工所の技術から生まれた産物です。様々な食材が持ち込まれ、その食材により適切な温度や時間などの調整に苦労しては、どんな可能性があるのかという模索を続けました」。

2010年からは、レモンの絞り汁を取った後の廃棄していた絞りカスの再利用など、廃棄や未利用素材の活用による、自給力アップに取り組み始めました。また、保存能力の高さから災害時の非常食や宇宙食、そして、高齢化社会に向けた少量食材の高栄養吸収への研究も行っています。全国各地から試作品の依頼がたくさんくるなど、その活躍はますます期待されています。

有限会社瀬戸鉄工

文:高橋義則

Leave a Reply