meat glue

noun

: the enzyme transglutaminase when used as a binding agent especially to unite smaller pieces of food (such as meat, poultry, or seafood) into large uniform pieces by forming bonds between proteins

Transglutaminase causes proteins to stick to one another, which is why some call it meat glue; the Japanese have long used it to make the mock crab called surimi …

—Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue, August 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1998, in the meaning defined above

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