Does siwonhan-mat represent delicious in Korean foods?

BackgroundKoreans believe that there is another sense experienced throughout the body when eating, in addition to smell and taste. This taste, siwonhan-mat, describes a sensation within the body, including the tongue, stomach, and intestines, when consuming food. Siwonhan-mat is often considered to be synonymous with deliciousness among Koreans. In this paper, determining factors of siwonhan-mat are explored in terms of kan (levels of salinity) and taste. Two representative dishes of siwonhan-mat, kongnamul-kuk (bean sprout soup) and hwangtaebuko-kuk (pollock soup), are used in this study. Sensory evaluation tests were performed in order to understand the relationship between siwonhan-mat and levels of salinity and taste.MethodsDifferent versions of kongnamul-kuk and hwangtaebuko-kuk were created with either of two types of seasoning (salt or soy sauce) and varying levels of salinity (1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%). The temperature of the kuk was set to 80°C, and varieties of kuk were randomly assigned to participants. The first group of participants rated siwonhan-mat in the kuk. The participants were 30 individuals in their 40s and 50s, as it is presumed that this age group would be more familiar with siwonhan-mat. 9 pt hedonic scale was used in the experiment. Another group of 30 participants was composed of people in their 20s and 30s, who were assumed to be less familiar with siwonhan-mat as compared to the first group. This group also rated deliciousness of the kuk using a similar procedure.ResultsThis research was conducted to allow better understanding of siwonhan-mat, a sensation of taste experienced by Koreans, in relation to levels of salinity and taste. The results suggest that types of seasoning and levels of salinity are determining factors of siwonhan-mat. For kongnamul-kuk, 2% salinity earned the highest score in both the salt and soy sauce seasoning conditions. As for buko-kuk, 3% salinity with soy sauce was preferred. Ratings of deliciousness were correlated with ratings of siwonhan-mat, suggesting that siwonhan-mat may be a core element of pleasant taste in kuk and tang.ConclusionBalancing kan is a determining factor of siwonhan-mat in Korean cuisine. Particularly, a strong association between siwonhan-mat and deliciousness was found in kuk and tang, suggesting the importance of siwonhan-mat in experiencing the best flavor in Korean food.