Cuttlefish Sauce
Cuttlefish sauce is a formulated savoury sauce built on cuttlefish material, most often combining cuttlefish ink for colour with an enzymatic hydrolysate or extract of cuttlefish flesh for taste, then seasoned, thickened and packed for direct use. It differs from the raw ink, which is a single ingredient bought for colour and marine taste, in that a sauce is a finished condiment with its own salt, sweetness, acidity and body.
The savoury character comes from the free amino acids and peptides released when cephalopod muscle protein is digested, with glycine and alanine giving the characteristic sweetness of squid and cuttlefish, glutamate giving umami, and taurine present in quantity. Marine aroma is carried largely by bromophenols, supported by nitrogenous compounds and by the cooked notes generated when the hydrolysate is heated with sugars. Where ink is included, eumelanin particles give a dense black colour that is a suspension rather than a solution, so the sauce has to be stabilised against settling.
Presentation is a viscous black or dark brown sauce in bottles, pouches and pails, usually thickened with modified starch or xanthan gum, and stabilised by a combination of salt, reduced water activity and thermal processing. A fermented style also exists, made by long salt fermentation of cuttlefish trim in the manner of a fish sauce, and it is thinner, clearer and much saltier.
We source bulk Cuttlefish Sauce from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Viscous homogeneous black to dark brown sauce, no separation on standing |
| Odour and Flavour | Characteristic cuttlefish, marine and savoury, free from ammoniacal notes |
| Total Solids | Not less than 30.0 percent |
| Total Nitrogen | Not less than 1.2 percent |
| Amino Acid Nitrogen | Not less than 0.5 percent |
| Sodium Chloride | To formula, within 1.0 percent absolute of target |
| Colour Strength | Conforms to retained reference at declared dilution |
| Viscosity (25°C) | Within 20 percent of reference |
| pH | 4.5 to 6.0 |
| Histamine | Not more than 50 mg/kg |
| Cadmium | Within the applicable limit for the destination market |
| Lead | Not more than 1 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 1,000 cfu/g for retorted grades |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The first split is between the compounded style, in which extract, ink and seasoning are blended and thickened, and the fermented style, in which cuttlefish and salt are held for months and the liquor is drawn off and filtered. The two look and behave quite differently and are specified on different parameters, the compounded sauce on viscosity, colour and solids, the fermented one on total nitrogen, amino acid nitrogen and salt.
Within the compounded style, grades vary by cuttlefish content, by whether ink is present and at what level, and by seasoning direction, since a Mediterranean style black seafood sauce and a Chinese or Korean style seasoned squid sauce are formulated differently. Retorted ambient grades sit alongside chilled and frozen ones, and industrial concentrates intended for further dilution sit alongside ready to use retail bottles. Colour strength against a reference, viscosity and separation on standing are the attributes that determine acceptance, and mollusc allergen declaration and species and origin documentation apply to all grades.
Applications
- Black seafood pasta and noodle sauces, both foodservice and retail
- Paella, risotto and rice dishes with a squid ink positioning
- Stir fry and braise bases for cuttlefish, squid and mixed seafood
- Dipping sauces and condiments for grilled and fried seafood
- Marinades for squid, cuttlefish and fish before grilling
- Fillings and toppings for buns, dumplings and savoury pastries
- Surimi and seafood analogue products, colouring and flavouring the paste
- Frozen and chilled ready meals with a seafood theme
- Snack and instant noodle seasoning, using concentrated grades
China Manufacturers of Cuttlefish Sauce
Top Cuttlefish Sauce manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States a sauce of this type is a food regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and a facility handling cephalopod material is subject to the seafood hazard analysis and critical control point regulation at 21 CFR 123 as well as to the preventive controls rules. Shelf stable low acid or acidified packs fall under the thermally processed low acid canned foods and acidified foods regulations at 21 CFR 113 and 114, with a scheduled process on file. Molluscan shellfish is not a major food allergen under United States law, unlike crustacean shellfish. This is a point of difference from the European position. Monosodium glutamate where present is declared by name and flavour components are covered by the FEMA GRAS programme.
In the European Union the establishment requires approval under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 because the raw material is of animal origin, and molluscs must be declared as an allergen under the food information regulation. Thickeners, stabilisers and flavour enhancers carry E numbers, and Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 permits them, with modified starches in the E14xx series, xanthan gum as E415 and monosodium glutamate as E621, while flavourings fall under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 and carry no E number. Cephalopod ink used for colour is treated as a colouring food rather than an authorised colour where it is used in its traditional form. Cadmium in cephalopods is the principal contaminant limit, and where soy sauce forms part of the seasoning, 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol is tested before release. Codex is relevant through its standard and code of practice for fish and fishery products.
Manufacturing Process
Cuttlefish trim, mantle and, in some formulations, whole small animals are received frozen, thawed under control, washed and ground. The slurry is heated briefly to inactivate native enzymes, then cooled to the working temperature of the added proteases and digested until the target degree of hydrolysis is reached, after which the enzymes are inactivated by a high temperature hold. The digest is separated in a decanter or centrifuge, and the clarified liquor is concentrated under vacuum. Where the fermented style is being made, this whole train is replaced by mixing the raw material with salt and holding it in tanks for several months while proteases from the tissue itself and from microbes do the same work slowly, after which the liquor is drawn, filtered and pasteurised.
The concentrated extract is charged to a jacketed vessel with ink, salt, sugar, umami salts, soy or other fermented seasonings, spice, oil and a starch or gum thickener, and cooked with agitation to hydrate the thickener and develop the seasoning. The batch is homogenised, which both disperses the melanin evenly and stabilises the emulsion, then deaerated, filled hot or filled and retorted according to the shelf life required, and cooled rapidly. Release covers solids, salt, nitrogen, viscosity, colour against a reference, histamine and microbiology.
