Detailed Explanation of the Production Process for Canned Small Fish

Small fish are found in enormous quantities in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Under traditional processing methods, they are mostly used for feed processing or eaten fresh. Used as feed, this results in a waste of resources; eaten fresh, consumption is not large due to seasonal influences and differences in people's dietary habits. Made into canned products, however, they have enormous potential and broad market prospects.

1. Raw material requirements and handling: Select small fish with intact bodies, normal odor, elastic flesh and good freshness. Squeeze out the internal organs of the small fish completely, rinse thoroughly, ensure no internal organs remain, and wash off the small scales as much as possible.

2. Salting: Use the salt-mixing method. For every 100 kg of small fish, add 1 kg of table salt and 0.5 kg of cooking wine, mix evenly by turning over, and let stand for about 10 minutes. To allow the salt to penetrate evenly, turn over 1 to 2 more times.

3. Sun-drying: Once the small fish have finished salting, take them out immediately, drain off the brine, then rinse once with clean water and spread them in the sunlight to dry. Drying until 80 percent dry is preferable.

4. Deep-frying: Put the sun-dried small fish into the pot, with the oil temperature at 180°C to 200°C, for 2 to 5 minutes, adding an amount about 1/2 of the oil volume in the pot. Stir gently. When the small fish turn light yellow, the deep-frying is complete. After each batch, clean out the small fish fragments. At intervals, add new oil to adjust, and replace the oil when necessary.

5. Broth - Seasoning liquid formula: 150 g granulated sugar, 45 g monosodium glutamate, 3 kg refined salt, 75 g Sichuan peppercorns, 50 g star anise, 60 g pepper powder, 450 g gelatin powder, 50 mg chili oil, 180 g ginger, 180 g garlic cloves, 180 g scallions, 5 kg soy sauce, 10 mL vinegar essence, 80 kg water.

Wash the ginger, scallions and garlic cloves, pound them, and put them in a gauze bag. Weigh out the Sichuan peppercorns and star anise and put them together into a pot containing the measured amount of water. After the water comes to a boil, add the refined salt, granulated sugar, pepper powder and soy sauce separately. After stirring, keep at a gentle boil for 25 minutes, then add the gelatin powder and let it dissolve. Then stop heating and filter. After filtering, add the monosodium glutamate, chili oil and vinegar essence, stir evenly, and set aside.

6. Filling the cans: Use chopsticks to place the small fish into the canning jars. Each jar has a net weight of 500 g: 150 g of broth and 350 g of small fish.

7. Exhausting: Put the filled cans into an exhausting box. During exhausting, the temperature at the center of the can is required to be 75°C to 80°C for 10 minutes. If a vacuum capping machine is used, the exhausting step can be omitted, and the cans can be vacuum-sealed and capped directly.

8. Sealing, sterilization, cooling, finished product: Use an ordinary sealing machine or a vacuum capping machine to seal, then place into a pressure cooker for sterilization: raise the pressure cooker temperature to 118°C within 15 minutes, maintain this temperature for 65 minutes for sterilization, then cool down over 20 minutes to below 40°C. Wipe the can bodies clean, coat the can lids with anti-rust oil, apply labels, and store in the warehouse.