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TLE
Food Processing

Quarter 1 – Module 2:
Lesson
Prepare Raw Materials
2

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 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master
Prepare Raw Materials in Fermentation and Pickling. The scope of this module permits
it to be used in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the
diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard
sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to
correspond with the textbook you are now using. TLE_AFFP9-12FR-IIjll

The module is divided into three lessons, namely:

• Lesson 1 – Sort and grade raw materials according to approved criteria and
enterprise requirements
• Lesson 2 – Prepare the sorted and graded fresh fruits and vegetables according
to required sizes and shapes
• Lesson 3 – Prepare fish and other marine products according to specifications

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. determine the different types of raw materials in fermentation and pickling.;

2. state the factors to be considered in the selection of raw materials for
fermentation and pickling;
3. familiarize the different cutting techniques of fruits and vegetables;
4. perform the different cutting techniques.
5. identify the different market forms of cuts and fish and shellfish; 6. enumerate
and explain the proper handling of other marine products; and
7. perform the different market forms of fish.

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 Lesson

2 Prepare Raw Materials

Food can be processed in various methods to preserve its freshness and quality
that includes the appearance, odor, taste, and texture. Fermentation and Pickling are
common methods applied in Food Processing.

Fermentation in food processing is the process of converting carbohydrates to

alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms, yeasts, or bacteria under anaerobic
conditions. Fermented fish and brine salting are regularly bought products under this
process. Pickling, on the other hand, is the process of preserving or extending the
shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
Pickled vegetables such as papaya, chayote, amplaya are a common example under
pickling. Also, the pickled fish is loved by most Filipinos.

What Is It

Lesson 1: Sort and Grade Raw Materials

What will happen if you buy fresh fruits and vegetables in the market and left
it unattended on the sink? Raw materials such as fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry,
and meat are delicate and perishable. If not properly handled, it can be thrown to
trash due to change of color, odor, flavor or taste, texture, and appearance.

Here are important reminders in preparing fruits, vegetables, and marine

products:

• It should be cleaned and washed first before cutting them into desired
sizes.
• Eggplant and potatoes change its color if not soak in water after slicing.
Cut them if it is time to be added to the food to retain its nutritive value.

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 • Do not soak ampalaya fruit in water with salt to avoid loss of its
bitterness and iron content
• Fresh fish may be identified by its bright bulging eyes, red gills, firm
elastic flesh which holds no finger impressions when pressed and which
may have a fishy odor.
• Do not expose fish to sunlight and high temperature because it may
deteriorate faster and causes spoilage.

Steps in Preparing the Raw Materials

1. Sort and grade raw materials needed in processing food by fermentation and
pickling.
2. Observe the qualities in sorting and grading which includes the following:
a. good quality
b. fresh and firm
c. nutritive value
d. free from bruises and blemishes
3. Weigh the raw materials to get the exact mass to be prepared using the
standard weighing device.

Procedure in Weighing:
1. Place the raw material/s on the weighing scale
2. Weigh the material accurately.
3. Record the obtained weight.

SELECTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

The quality is one of the factors to be considered in the selection of fruits and
vegetables that you should know. Quality refers to wholesomeness, cleanliness,
freedom from the undesirable substance, degree of perfection in shape, uniformity
of sizes, free from blemishes, desirable aroma, color, flavor and texture, and
nutritive value.

The nutritive value of fruits and vegetables is dependent on such factors as:

1. Variety - different varieties oftentimes vary in nutritive value such as yellow

colored versus white flesh;
2. Kind - the food values contained in different fruits;
3. Stage of - matured fruits contain more vitamin C;
Maturity
4. Size - larger fruits contain more of its food value compared to inferior size; and
5. Season - abundance of fruits in season may supply you with more nutritive
value.

It is commonly grown in or close to the ground that is most likely exposed to

contamination by microorganisms. Hence, careful and thorough washing is

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essential. All spoiled portions should be removed by washing, brushing, scraping, or
peeling. Peeling after cooking may minimize the loss of nutrients such as minerals
and vitamins. Long-time soaking of peeled and cut vegetables tends to decrease
their nutrient content. Factors affecting nutrient loss:

a. nature of the vegetable

b. treatment before cooking
c. size of the pieces
d. a method, length, and temperature of the cooking

Raw Materials for Fermentation

a low growing shrub, belonging to

the gumamela family. Its red petals
are used for making a fine sparkling
a. Roselle red wine

the fruit resembles the Duhat except

for its round shape. It has black skin
with white flesh which is sweet when
ripe. It is sometimes called duhat
b. Lipote matsing.

it is similar to ties, a green unripe,

c. Katuri and yellow when ripe.

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 sometimes called blackberries. It has
d. Bignay small round fruits in a cluster

Raw Materials for Pickling

Papaya Cucumber Stringbeans

Bamboo shoot Chayote Mustard

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Lesson 2: Prepare the Sorted and Graded Fresh Fruits and
Vegetables according to Required Sizes and Shapes

Cutting Techniques of Fruits and Vegetables

You probably have seen your mother cutting fruits and vegetables at home, or even do
it yourself alone. You cut and slice in your own technique but do not know what is the
proper term used for these cuts. To know the different types of cuts is not only to
show your skills and fancy everyone how master you are to hold a knife.

The different cutting styles could also affect the flavor of the food you prepare. Using
the correct cutting technique helps food cooks more evenly and the flavor will be
enhanced. To take an example, crushed or minced onion will give a much better taste
than onion sliced in halves. To make your food preparation exciting and have cooked
at its best, let’s study some of the most commonly used cutting techniques:
A. Chop

It refers to cutting food into small, irregular pieces. In recipes the required size
of piece is ¾” in course and ¼” fine chop which is common. A size of ½” per piece
can be cut if no required size.

Steps in Chopping an Onion:

1. First, chop off the stem, and then cut the onion in half lengthwise through
the bulbous center and peel back the papery skin.

 Leave the root end intact. As you slice through the onion, the
intact root end holds the onion half together while you slice and
chop.

2. Then, p lace each half cut -side down. With

your knife tip just in front of the root end,
slice the onion lengthwise in parallel cuts,
leaving 1/8 to 1/4 i nch between the
slices.
3. Next, m ake several horizontal cuts of
desired thickness, parallel to the board.
4. After that, c ut through the onion
crosswise, making pieces as thick as
desired.
5. Finally, cut through the root end and
discard.

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 B. Dice

A dice refers to cutting food into small uniform or dice-like pieces, ranging from
1/8" - 1/2". With dicing comes some waste, since you'll need to cut the vegetable or
fruit into a block shape, but the extra pieces can be reused for stock or other dishes.
Once you have your block formed, slice the blocks into strips in the desired thickness,
and then cut again into smaller pieces to create cubes.

Steps in Dicing Onion:

1. Trim the stem end

2. Slice in half
3. Peel off the outer layer (skin)
4. Made a cut into Z-Axis
5. Make a cut into Y-axis
6. Make a cut into the X-axis
7. Make a large, medium and small dice
C. Mince
Mincing refers to cutting food into very small or fine pieces--smaller than those that
would result from a fine chop or dice. Mincing should give ingredients a soft, almost paste-
like texture and is commonly recommended in recipes for garlic, herbs or ginger to release
their flavorful oils or liquids, distributing them evenly throughout a dish.

Steps in Mincing Garlic:

1. Trim the end - off the garlic.
2. Cut the garlic lengthwise. Laying the
knife parallel to the pepper, gently
slice along the inside of the jalapeño,
removing the seeds and ribs.
3. Make very fine slices down the length
of the pepper. Cut across these slices
to create a mince.
4. Mince garlic, begin by cutting off the
root end of the garlic with a sharp
knife.
5. Thinly slice the entire garlic clove
lengthwise.
6. Slice the clove crosswise, cutting
across the layers to create a fine
mince.

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 D. Julienne
It is to cut food into long ultra-thin strips that resemble matchsticks. Julienne is
also known as 'shoestring' and is the method used to create crazy delicious shoestring
fries. It is a good technique to use for vegetables and other ingredients when you want
to heighten your presentation.

Steps in Julienne:
1. Peel the vegetable
2. Slice the vegetable crosswise with the desired thickness. (If a vegetable is
round, slice one side to make the base stable)
3. Slice thinly into lengthwise (1/16” -1/18” thick) using the chef’s knife.
4. Stack a few slabs at a time and cut it lengthwise.

E. Chiffonade
This method is used to shred leafy greens or herbs into ribbon-like strips to use as
a garnish or in cooking. To chiffonade, stack the leaves you plan on cutting

Steps in Chiffonade:
1. Stack the leaves.
2. Roll the leaves
3. Slice the roll
4. Separate the strips

F. Slice
Cut across into flat pieces

Steps in Slicing Potato:

1. Peel potato.
2. Cut into halves.
3. Cut cross into flat pieces depending
on your preferred size.

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 G. Diagonal Cut
A cut with 45 degrees position of the knife.

Steps in Diagonal Slicing:

1. Hold the vegetable anchored on your
hand and the knife at a 45degree
angle.
2. Cut, roll the vegetable a quarter turn
towards you.
3. Cut, roll, cut, and roll until the tip of
the vegetable is done

Why Proper Cuts are Important

1. Uniformity of sizes and shape. There are fruits and vegetables whose shape is
not even and may vary from one variant to another. For instance, a carrot. It
goes from very fat to very thin and most people will use a coin cut to slice it.
This leaves very large and very small pieces in relation to itself.

2. Ensures an even predictable cooking time. Large pieces will take longer cooking
time compared to those small cuts and a thick slice than the thin one. You will
probably complain when the food is mushy and dissolves easily in your mouth
or it happens to be hard. Size is important in making soups or stocks

Lesson 3: Prepare Fish and other Marine Products according to

Specifications
SELECTION OF FISH AND OTHER MARINE PRODUCTS

Steps in Handling Fresh Fish

1. Minimize struggle of fish (be fresh or marine) while still alive.

2. Keep the fish in the shade to prevent it from spoiling.
3. Remove the fish while still fresh to prevent autolytic changes from the feed they
have eaten.
4. Cover it with wet burlaps like banana leaves, cracked or shaved ice, refrigerated
water or brine, refrigerated containers.
5. Cool the fish immediately after they are caught.
6. Use containers made of slats, netting or screen set down in the water for
constant water circulation if ever the fish are small.

Characteristics of Fresh and Stale Fish to Consider When Grading

Features Fresh Fish Stale Fish

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1. odor fresh, fishy odor sour or putrid

bright, bulging pupils, Velvet, black dull, wrinkled, sunken pupils, dull
2. eyes corneas transparent black, corneas opaque
bright red, covered with clear slime, fresh dull brown or gray, slime cloudy, odor
3. gills
odor under gill cover under gill cover sour and offensive
4. color bright faded
Feature
Fresh Fish Stale Fish
s
firm, the body is stiff; impression made by soft and flabby; finger impression made
5. flesh
fingers do not remain, slime is clear by fingers remain
6. belly walls intact often ruptured, viscera protruding
7. muscle white pinkish especially around
tissue backbone

pink, not protruding brown, protruding

8. vent

Preparing Fish for Cooking

A. To Clean Fish
1. Remove scales by scraping beginning at the tail toward the head using
the back of the knife or a scaler.
2. Make a slit in the belly cavity from gills to vent.
3. Remove entrails and wash away blood.
4. Remove fins and gills.
5. Cut-off gills with head when head and tail are to be removed

B. To Skin Fish
1. Remove fish along backbone and cut-off a narrow strip down the entire
length of backbone.
2. Loosen the skin from body part of gills on both sides.
3. Draw the skin off toward the tail.
4. Draw the skin off toward the tail. The Skin of the fresh fish can be
easily drowned.

Market Forms and Cuts of Fish

After fish is caught from the water, it undergoes pre-treatment depending on the
specific requirement of the vendor. These methods are described and illustrated below:

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1. Whole or Round fish

Fish whose parts are still intact. It can either be

transported or marketed alive or dead.

2. Drawn Fish

Fish whose internal organs are removed

by making a slit along the belly
wall and the entrails pulled-out

How to Cut Drawn Fish:

1. Lay the fish on the board and grasp firmly.

2. Make slit along the belly wall.
3. Pull-out internal organs.
4. Clean and rinse the fish.

3. Dressed Fish
Fish whose scales, internal organs, fins, head, and
tail are removed.

How to Dress Fish:

1. Lay the fish on a board and grasp the head firmly.

2. Scrape the scales off using the scaler or tablespoon,
working from the tail to the head.
3. Make a cut the entire length of the belly.
4. Remove the entrails and pelvic fins.
5. Remove the head and the pectoral fins by making a
cut just in front of the collarbone.
6. Cut down large backbone and snap the head off.

7. Remove the dorsal fin by cutting along each side

with a sharp knife then grasp the end near the
tail and pull toward the head.
8. Clean and rinse the fish.

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 4. Steaks

They are cross-sections of cleaned fish which

are around 1- 2 cm thick. Large fish are
occasionally in this form.

How to Make Steaks:

1. Place fish on the board and grasp firmly.

2. Start the cut with steak form from

a gutted fish or dressed fish.

3. Cut across the backbone with a sharp knife.

4. Cut the same cross-section until it reaches the tail
portion with around 1-2 cm thick each cut.
5. Clean and rinse the fish.

5. Splitted Fish
Fish that is cut open
along the dorsal side from
head to tail.

How to Split Fish:

1. Place fish on the board and grasp firmly.

2. Slice along the fish backbone toward the tail.

3. Remove internal organs.
4. Snip the backbone using a kitchen shear right behind
the head and right in front of the tail.
5. Remove the backbone using the knife.
6. Scales may or may not be removed.
7. Clean and rinse the fish.

6. Fillet
This is the fleshy part of the fish which is
separated from the backbone and the ribs.

Types of Fillet:

a. Butterfly fillet

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 Fillet that is joined together on the ventral sides by
the underside skin. It is also called block fillet, cutlet or
doublet fillet.

Types of Fillet:
Filler from side of a fish cut away from the backbone.
b. CrossCut fillet

This is a fillet from flat fish. The

flesh from each side is removed as a
single piece.

c. Quarter Cut fillet

This is a fillet from flat fish. The

flesh from each side is taken off in two
7. Sticks
pieces.
These are the fleshy portion of the
fish and are cut in small elongated chunk
with uniform sizes.
d. Single These cuts are from
Fillet
fillet or steaks.

What’s More
How are you coping with the lesson? Let us find out how far you have reached
your understanding of preparing raw materials for pickling and fermentation. Enhance
your knowledge by answering Activity 4 below.

Activity 4: Pick and Match!

Directions: Presented below are two columns on common methods and techniques in
preparing raw materials for food processing. Column A is the process of preparation
while Column B is the method/technique used. Match Column A from Column B and
write only the letter on the space provided. Use each letter once.

Process of Preparation Methods/Techniques

____ 1. Partial cooking of raw materials A. Grading

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 ____ 2. Soaking of fish in salt solution B. Scraping

____ 3. Sorting of fish according to species,

C. Pickling
freshness and size

____ 4. Segregating suitable materials from

D. Brining
the undesirable

____ 5. Cooling the raw materials to

E. Weighing
temperature of melting ice at 0⁰C.

____ 6. Removing the scales of the fish using

F. Sorting
the back of knife or scaler

____ 7. Removing the internal organs of the

G. Cleaning
fish

____ 8. Preserving food using vinegar as the

H. Precooking
main curing ingredient.

____ 9. Getting the exact mass of the

I. Gutting
prepared raw materials

____ 10. Removing undesirable parts of

the fish and washes it with
potable water. J. Chilling

What I Have Learned

Activity 5: Complete Me!

Directions: Supply the missing word in each number. Write the correct answer in
your activity notebook.

1. __________________ is a match-like strips and also known as “shoe string”

used to create crazy delicious shoestring fries.
2. __________________ refers to cutting food into small, irregular pieces.
3. __________________ refers to cutting food into very small or fine pieces,
smaller than those that would result from a fine chop or dice.
4. __________________ is a cut with 45 degrees position of the knife.
5. ________________ is method used to shred leafy greens or herbs into
ribbonlike strips to use as a garnish or in cooking.

Activity 6: Share your Thoughts!

1. What is the difference between sorting and grading?

___________________________________________________________

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 2. How can you ensure that the fruits and vegetable you bought is a good quality?
___________________________________________________________
3. How weighing affects the preparation of raw materials in processing food?
___________________________________________________________

Assessment

Activity 10: It’s the Cut!

Directions: Identify the different cutting techniques as shown in the picture. Write the
correct answer on the space provided.

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 3
1

4 5

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

4. ______________________________

5. _____________________________

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