Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Beverage or beverage concentrate
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-31
2003-11-04
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Beverage or beverage concentrate
Reexamination Certificate
active
06641856
ABSTRACT:
This application is a 371 National Stage application of PCT/JP98/0257 filed Jun. 11, 1998.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to food and drink and, more particularly, it relates to a fermentation product produced by using beans as raw material and also to novel foodstuffs and beverages produced by using such a fermentation product as raw material.
2. Description of Background Art
It is well known that beans are rich of nutrients including protein and lipid. Beans are taken as principal as well as auxiliary foodstuffs and used as raw material for producing seasonings and cakes. Beans are often cooked before taken as food. Food and drink products made from soy beans include tofu (soy bean curd), tonyu (soy bean milk) and kinako (soy bean flour). Japanese miso (soy bean paste) and shoyu (soy bean sauce) and among typical fermentation products of soy beans.
Tofu (soy bean curd), tonyu (soy bean milk) and kinako (soy bean flour) are traditional Japanese foodstuffs having their origins that can be traced back by centuries. Of these, tofu (soy bean curd) appears almost daily in dishes in Japan and miso (soy bean paste) and shoyu (soy bean sauce) are ubiquitous seasonings in Japan. Kinako (soy bean flour) is often mixed with sugar and used to coat cakes therewith. Tonyu (soy bean milk) is a beverage that looks like cow milk but is popular only among a limited number of people because of its peculiar flavor.
Tofu (soy bean curd) has a strong demand in Japan because of its particular taste and flavor and also because it is believed to be very good for health. However, tofu (soy bean curd) contains water by almost about 90%. In other words, the single predominant content of tofu (soy bean curd) is water. If compared with soy beans, tofu (soy bean curd) contains less protein and lipid than soy beans by 28% and 14% respectively, to say nothing of other nutrients. A large volume of lees is left in the process of preparing tofu (soy bean curd) to reduce the yield of tofu (soy bean curd) manufacturing. Additionally, the scope of application of tofu (soy bean curd) is limited in terms of recipies for cooking tofu (soy bean curd). Tofu (soy bean curd) is easy to break and lose its original shape to add to its other disadvantages. Furthermore, tofu (soy bean curd) cannot replace bun or scone and is not easily portable. Tonyu (soy bean milk) is an intermediary product in the process of producing tofu (soy bean curd) and hence its contents are similar to those of tofu (soy bean curd). It is mostly used as soft drink among few people who like it. Kinako (soy bean flour), on the other hand, is as rich of nutrients as soy beans and contains substantially no moisture to make it a desirable foodstuff. However, kinako (soy bean flour) is not very appealing because it has been taken by people for centuries to make it very commonplace in terms of both appearance and taste.
As for miso (soy bean paste) and shoyu (soy bean sauce), they have no applications other than seasoning because they contain salt as much as 6% to 12% and hence they taste extremely salty.
The inventor of the present invention proposed a soft drink of natural origin showing the flavor of miso (soy bean paste) and the sweetness of fruit juice and having a high nutritional value in U.S. Pat. No. 1,947,954 (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-75486). The patented soft drink is really epoch-making as it broke the rigid idea that miso (soy bean paste) is nothing but a seasoning.
However, since the above patented soft drink is devised to contain most of the nutrients of miso (soy bean paste), it also inevitably contains salt to a large extent if it is to be made nutritionally as rich as miso (soy bean paste). Additionally, it can lose the flavor of soft drink when it is made to contain miso (soy bean paste) to a large extent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above identified problem by providing a fermentation product produced by using beans as raw material and also novel foodstuffs and beverages produced by using such a fermentation product as raw material. In other words, the object of the present invention is to provide a fermentation product produced by using beans as raw material and also a variety of foodstuffs and beverages produced by using such a fermentation product as raw material that are novel, tasty and rich of nutrients but do not contain salt or, if they do, contain salt only to a small degree.
According to a first aspect of the invention, the above object is achieved by providing a fermentation product produced by adding koji (rice or bean yeast) to boiled and/or steamed beans and allowing the mixture to ferment and mature.
A fermentation product according to the first aspect of the invention is produced by utilizing yeast and slightly has the flavor of beans. However, it tastes very differently if compared with beans to appeal itself as a very novel food product. A fermentation product according to the invention has a high nutritional value because the nutrients of beans are almost all there. Additionally, no lees nor dregs are produced in the course of fermentation to raise the manufacturing yield. While a fermentation product according to the invention may be taken just as it is, it can be made to taste to meet your preference by adding sweetening seasonings, salty seasoning and/or other seasonings appropriately. A fermentation product according to the invention comes to appear like kayu when beaten and kneaded and the kayu-like product is liquidized by adding liquid to it and mixing them well. A fermentation product according to the first aspect of the invention can be used as a material for preparing a novel dish. As a fermentation product according to the first aspect of the invention is produced by fermenting beans and maturing the fermented beans, it will be digested better than ordinary cooked beans. Additionally, it operates well to clean the bowels because it contains dietary fibers.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a fermentation product produced by adding koji (rice or bean yeast) to seasoned and boiled and/or steamed beans and allowing the mixture to ferment and mature.
A fermentation product according to the second aspect of the invention is substantially the same as a product according to the invention except that seasoned beans are used as raw material.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a fermentation product produced by adding koji (rice or bean yeast) and one or more than one seasonings to boiled and/or steamed beans and allowing the mixture to ferment and mature.
A fermentation product according to the third aspect of the invention is substantially the same as a product according to the invention except that not only koji (rice or bean yeast) but also one or more than one seasonings are added to boiled and/or steamed beans.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a dry foodstuff produced by drying a fermentation product according to any of the first through third aspects of the invention.
Since a dry foodstuff according to the fourth aspect of the invention is obtained by drying a fermentation product according to the invention for the ease of handling and storage, it can be made to restore the original form simply by dissolving it into cold or hot water. However, the dry foodstuff can also be taken without dissolving it into water and preferably by spreading sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, shoyu (soy bean sauce), butter or jam on it. It can be turned into a liquid or kayu-like state by adding milk, juice or seasoning solution to it to make it more comfortable to eat. A dry foodstuff according to the fourth aspect of the invention can also be used as a material for preparing a dish.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a powdery foodstuff obtained by milling a dry foodstuff according to the fourth aspect of the invention into a powdery sate.
A powdery foodstuff according to the fifth aspec
Hendricks Keith
Mallinckrodt Robert R.
Mallinckrodt & Mallinckrodt
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