ABSTRACT
Figure 7.9 shows photographs of meatballs made from beef (dark), pork (in termediately light), and fish (light). The color intensity reflects the content of the major muscle pigment myoglobin.
10. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK
Meat processing in China has had several thousands of years of history. Cur rently, more than 100 kinds of processed meats are available, which range from whole cuts to finely comminuted products. Among the various processed products, pork remains as the most predominant meat species. Chinese meat products are distinguished from Western meats in many ways, especially in flavor, because of the complex product formulations and the processing proce dures used. The transformation and scale-up of the traditional culinary arts to a large commercial production has resulted in a fairly rapid development of the Chinese meat industry in recent years. Modern meat-processing technologies from Western countries are gradually being incorporated into the traditional Chinese meat-processing line, and this certainly has facilitated the advance ment of the country’s meat industry. The main technological hurdle that hinders further development of the Chinese meat industry is the lack of a suf ficient transportation and distribution system.
