Effect of the Water Content in Rice Cake and Acid Concentration of Acidulant on the Acid Soaking Characteristic of Rice Cakes for Tteokbokki

Abstract

The effects of the water content in rice cake and the acid concentration of the acidulant on the acid soaking characteristics of rice cakes for tteokbokki were investigated in this study. Mixture ratio (rice flour : water) varied among 6.0:4.0, 5.5:4.5, and 5.7:4.3, with two acid concentrations (5% and 10%). Peleg model was applied to describe the acid soaking process of rice cakes in tteokbokki (R2>0.9679). During acid soaking, the absorption rate and the amount of hydrogen ion were higher as the amount of added water increased and the concentration of acid rose in soaking water. Based on the model parameters, the acid soaking time to achieve the target hydrogen ion content (100 mol/mm3) was estimated. At the target pH of 4.0, the increase rate (%) of moisture content with acid soaking showed a higher value for the 6.0:4.0 sample having 5% acid. On the other hand, the highest amount of acid absorption shown for the 5.5:4.5 sample had 10% soaking. The acid soaking characteristics were strongly dependent on the mixture ratio and the acid concentration. The quality characteristics such as TPA parameters and color showed that the high water ratio in mixtures and the high concentration of acid solution showed no significant changes after soaking.