Vacuum frying has come in the province

There is excitement in new things, a challenge, a welcome respite from boredom. Especially if that thing is food, I mean, healthier food. 

When I was in Ormoc this weekend, an acquaintance introduced me a new food product from Baybay, Leyte: Vacuum Fried Jackfruit (Langka). And I fell in love with it.

Photo from web.evis.net.ph

Vacuum frying has been the trend nowadays since most consumers prefer healthier lifestyles. I am not that familiar with vacuum frying, but as I understood it the technology enables fruits or vegetables to be immersed in a vegetable oil at a controlled temperature to optimize the quality of the products fried.

In ordinary frying, the product is subjected to extreme heat thus scorching (burning) and darkening occurs. In vacuum frying or others call the process as atmospheric frying, the product is subjected to gradual reduction of moisture, like slow frying in extreme heat but not enough heat to boil water. This way, the fruit or vegetable undergoing the process retains most of its original color, taste, aroma and nutritional content.

Here in the Philippines, the technology is quite young and many entrepreneurs find it hard to acquire the machine since it is quite costly, thus, products undergoing vacuum frying technology are not for the masa (common people). Not yet.

But with Leyte State University's Department of Food Science and Technology introducing this vacuum frying technology in the provincial areas, healthy snack products will soon carve a niche in the Philippine market. Perhaps, no more oily snacks in the future?

(Leyte State University is formerly known as Visayas State College of Agriculture or ViSCA. A 50g pack of Vacuum-Fried Jackfruit costs about 45-55 pesos.)