Hedonic Quality of Empek-Empek with the Addition of Kappa Carrageenan

Abstract

Empek-empek is the traditional food of Palembang which is made of the mixture of minced fish and flour and then it is shaped into certain shape. Snakehead Murrel fish (Ikan Gabus) is a kind of fish which produce tasteful empek-empek (crispiness, aroma, colour and taste) and it was loved by the consumer. The high price of Snakehead Murrel fish made the producer of empek-empek turned to use Dorab wolf-herring (Ikan Parang-parang). Empek-empek from Dorab wolf-herring fish was not really liked by the consumer. Various efforts was conducted to produce this empek-empek with the addition of various materials, even with the material which is banned by the government, such as borax. The result of research which was conducted to sausage and meatball showed that the addition of kappa carrageenan was able to fix the crispiness and colour, and even lengthen the duration of storage.The purpose of this study was to analyze the level of likeness, hedonic quality and the storage duration of empek-empek which was made of Dorab wolf-herring fish with the treatment of variation in kappacarrageenan concentration. One kilogram of  minced Dorab wolf-herring fish was mixed with one kilogram of flour. It was mixed well until it was homogen and then it was added with water and salt while it was kept being stirred until the dough was easy to be shaped. While it was stirred, we added kappacarrageenan with the concentration of 0%, 0.35%, 0.4%, 0.45%, 0.5%, 0.55%. Then, it was boiled. When it was already cool down, it was fried and served for the testing. The Parameter which was observed were: level of liking, crispiness, aroma, colour and storage duration. The testing was done by 36 panelists with the paired comparison testing method. The one which was compared to it was the empek-empek which was sold in the commmercial market. The result of the testing showed that the addition of kappacarrageenan was able to fix the level of liking, crispiness, aroma, colour and storage duration of Dorab wolf-herring fish empek-empek. Empek-empek with the addition of kappacarrageenan 0.45% has the best hedonic quality, it was better than other treatments. The addition of 0.45% kappacarrageenan is the one which was loved the most by the panelists.

Keywords: hedonic qulity,Empek-empek, Kappa carrageenan