• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.454-463
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• 2014

This study compared the texture characteristics and consumer acceptance of cooked wheat noodles produced in four countries, which were Korea, Japan, China, and Italy. Noodle types were selected after FGI (focus group interview). Eleven noodles were studied, and they were categorized into four types: udon, fried udon, oriental noodles of various thickness, and pasta. Color was measured as L (lightness), a (redness), and b (yellowness) values using a colorimeter. Lightness decreased when noodles were cooked, whereas redness and yellowness of cooked noodles were unchanged. Texture properties of wheat noodles in terms of hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, and chewiness were measured using the Rheometer. Italian spaghetti (spgt_IL), Korean fried udon (yk_udng_KR) had highest values for hardness. Korean udon had the highest value for springiness, whereas Chinese medium noodle (mid_CN) had the lowest value (p<0.05). Chinese thick noodle (thick_CN) and fettuccine (fettc_IL) showed lower hardness but higher springiness. Cohesiveness was significantly higher for Japanese udon (udng_JP), Chinese medium noodle (mid_CN), and Chinese thick noodle (thick_CN), whereas values for Korean thin noodle (thin_KR) and Korean fried noodle (yk_udng_KR) were significantly low (p<0.05). Spaghetti (spgt_IL) showed significantly high values for chewiness (p<0.05). For overall acceptability, thick Korean noodle showed the highest score with a level of 'slightly like'. Taste and texture attributes were highest among all noodles, and its high scores for chewiness and smoothness might contribute to its overall acceptance. Korean thick noodle, Korean udon, and Japanese udon were not significantly different from Korean or Japanese thin noodles. Japanese fried noodle (yk_udng_JP) showed the lowest acceptance among noodles in terms of color, flavor, taste, and texture. Chinese thick and medium noodles showed lower scores for overall acceptability, whereas chewiness was not significantly different from other noodles. Spaghetti and fettuccine showed lower scores in terms of overall acceptability, taste, texture, springiness, and chewiness.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.359-365
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate a method to improve and to increase the utilization of Korean traditional food in middle school students by examining preferences and perceptions. Middle school students in Seoul area were surveyed from 29 November to 6 December 2007. The results are summarized as follows: 83.9% students ate Korean food as breakfast. The reasons for the success of Korean food were 'Nation's traditional food' (29.2%), 'fit in taste' (27.4%), and 'suitable match of nutrients' (24.8%). Students responded that the following needed to be changed in order to improve Korean food: 'alleviation of strong taste' (30.3%), 'various cooking methods' (23.9%), and 'convenience of eating the food' (22.1%). Meal preferences in this survey of middle school students were 'Korean food' (4.09), 'Western food' (4.08), 'Japanese food' (4.00), 'Chinese food' (3.91) and 'Fast food' (3.55). Perceptions in the taste of Korean food were 'spicy taste' (3.28), 'hot taste' (3.22), and 'salty taste' (3.15). Male students (3.23) perceived a higher salty taste than female students (3.05). Expectations for the taste of Korean food included 'spicy taste' (3.16) and hot taste (3.03). Male students (3.25) anticipated the spicier taste more than female students (3.05).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.283-291
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• 2005

This study was peformed by questionnaire to investigate satisfaction for the menu qualify of Korean traditional food of Japanese tourists. The subjects of this study consisted of 280 Japanese tourists using the Gyeongju and Busan hotel. The results were summarized as follows: 63.9% of the subjects responded that frequency of visiting was 1-2 times a year and 42.1% responded that motivation of visiting was for tour and understanding of korea. Companion with friend scored high as 40.4%, and intention of revisiting was high on 'normal'. On overall satisfaction on korean traditional foods, 'satisfy' scored high as 43.2%. 61.1% of the subjects responded that the taste was the most important factor of food. On frequency of eating, 'over 8 times' scored high as 27.9%, and on motivation of eating, 'with visiting Korea' scored high as 48.2%. On satisfaction for the menu quality of korean traditional food, the highest item was 'taste(3.82 point)' and 'nutrition(3.82 point)', and but 'Japanese mark on menu(2.47 point)', 'Japanese mark on ingredient(2.61 point)' scored low. Overall satisfaction for korean traditional food had an effect on intention of revisiting, and therefore, improving the quality of the traditional food and the strategy for the classification of desires are earnestly requested.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.617-624
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• 2013

Korean Food Globalization has been launched as a tool of civil ambassador and the high value-oriented industry. According to department of statistics in 2012, the trend of Korean food globalization from international visitors of Chinese and Japanese has grown. Hence, this study is purposed to identify the level of satisfaction of Chinese and Japanese consumers based on their food-related lifestyle. The survey was conducted by interviewing 403 Chinese and Japanese visitors who have experienced Korean food. The survey questionnaire was composed of 3 parts of demographic information, food-related lifestyle, and satisfaction of Korean restaurant. As factor analysis results, 3 factors were yielded for the food-related lifestyle factors-a eat-out preferred group, a health preferred group, and a taste preferred group, and 3 factors were generated for Korean restaurant satisfaction-hygiene and service, menu, and food quality. For cluster analysis, 3 clusters were identified as follows: high interested in food itself, health interested, and taste interested. Female appears to be significantly different in terms of 3 clusters than male. Nationality shows that Chinese consumers showed a high interest in food itself whereas Japanese consumers were high interested in health. With regard to Korean restaurant satisfaction, service appeared to be important in Chinese consumers while Japanese consumers showed a higher mean value on serving size, price, and nutrition. The findings concluded that by understanding the nature of food-related lifestyle of international visitors, marketing strategies can better meet visitors' expectations and increase their satisfaction with Korean restaurants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.223-238
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• 2004

In this paper, the differences between Korean and Japanese ways of seasonings are studied. The main results are summarized as follows: (1) Shouyu and Miso which are Japanese equivalents of soy sauce and bean paste of Korean foods are used in variety of different seasonings with some other ingredients while Korean counter parts are used only to add salty tastes. (2) Shouyu and Miso lose their flavors after considerable time of heating, while Korean soy sauce and bean pastes increase their tastes after heating. (3) Mirin adds sweety taste and glaze and Sake makes food soft or hard according to the moment of being added during cooking. (4) In Korean foods soy sauce, bean paste and red pepper paste are on the basis of tastes, Dashi is used in almost every Japanese food. (5) Seasoned vegetables of Korean food are prepared only with spices of green onion, garlic and sesame oil while seasoned fishes or vegetables are mixed with Shoyu or salt and vinegar in Japanese food. (6) In making Zorim, Korean traditional sauces are added from the beginning of heating. But in making Nimono, sugar, salt, vinegar, Shoyu and artificial taste are added in order during heating. (7) In grilling, main food for grilling in Korea is meat, which is prepared with a variety of spices such as soy sauce or/and red pepper pastes, garlic, green onion, sesame oil, sesame powder, pepper and sugar while mainly fishes are grilled with salt, occasionally with Shoyu or Miso in Japanese food. (8) Pan frying fishes are taken with soy sauce with vinegar in Korea but Tepura are eaten with Tentsuyu in Japan.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.296-302
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• 2010

A survey on the quality improvement and preference for green onion kimchi by Chinese and Japanese consumers was conducted by 30 Korean specialists in order to develop an improved green onion kimchi product. The long green onion shape, kimchi juice, seasonings, off-odor of fermented sea food, and stimulatory flavor of green onion were the main issues considered for the improvement of green onion product. Usage of the favorite ingredients of the Chinese and Japanese consumers was also suggested. The percentages of Chinese and Japanese who already knew green onion kimchi were 54.1% and 30.3%, respectively, whereas 46.8% of Chinese and 28.1% of Japanese have actually tried green onion kimchi in Korea. There was no significant difference in the preference for green onion kimchi between Chinese (3.25/5.0) and Japanese (3.17/5.0) consumers. For recommendations for improving the quality of green onion, Chinese consumers thought off-flavor, fibrous texture, and fermentation level were more significant while the Japanese considered red color, various taste, MSG content, and length of green onion. Seasoned tofu with green onion and rice were suggested as complementary foods to green onion kimchi by the Chinese and Japanese, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.100-115
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• 2010

This study was performed to investigate the effects of taste preference on dietary behavior and nutrient intake. The subjects were 191 female collegians in the Gyeonggi and Gangwon areas. Data were collected using anthropometric measurements, 24-hour recall, and self-administered questionnaires. The respondents were classified into sub-groups according to taste preference: sweet taste (liked and disliked group), salty taste (liked and disliked group), sour taste (liked and disliked group), hot taste (liked and disliked group), and bitter taste (liked and disliked group). The results of this study are as follows: subjects liked, in order of taste preference, hot>sweet>sour>salty>bitter tastes. There were no significant differences in height, weight, and BMI among the groups. The sweet-taste-liked group, tended to prefer Chinese food and fast foods for eating out over the sweet-taste-disliked group (p<0.05). Subjects in the salty-taste-liked group ate faster (p<0.05) and more than those in the salty-taste-disliked group (p<0.05). They also consumed more animal fat and meat (p<0.05) than their counterparts. Compared with the sour-taste-disliked group, subjects in the sour-taste-liked group tended to select Korean food or Japanese-style food for eating out, and fruits for a snack (p<0.05). The meal size of the hot-taste-liked group tended to be more regular (p<0.05) than that in the hottaste-disliked group. Overall, there were distinct differences in dietary behavior and food choices according to taste preference. Taste preference should be considered for dietary consulting and nutritional education.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.322-328
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• 2007

This study surveyed customers regarding their recognition and preference attributes for Japanese food. The results showed that the percentage preferring Japanese food was approximately 41.2%. The primary reason for this preference was 'taste' with 72.7% and 'sanitation' with 6.5%. The favorite Japanese food was sushi(41.3%) costing in the range of \$10,000{\sim}20,000$. Correlations analysis on the satisfaction between general characteristics and Japanese food showed there were significant differences among ages(p<0.l), and men rather than women those residing in Seoul rather than other areas, and university graduates rather than those with other educational degrees showed higher satisfaction with Japanese food. Regarding occupation, office workers with monthly incomes from \$2,000,000{\sim}3,000,000$ showed higher satisfaction. The trend for using Japanese take-out food was low(59.4%) and the drawbacks for using take-out food were 'poor quality' (39.3%) and 'expensive price'(24.7%).

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.190-198
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• 2012

This research evaluated and analyzed the level of acceptability of spinach according to blanching time by testing consumer taste of corresponding countries for the purpose of globalizing Korean food. General taste, appearance, flavor, and texture of spinach blanched for 20 seconds were highly evaluated by Koreans and Japanese ($p$<0.05), who are used to the method of slightly blanching, mixing, and eating spinach. On the other hand, general taste, appearance, flavor, and texture of spinach blanched for 5 minutes was highly evaluated by the French ($p$<0.05), who are used to eating boiled spinach. Concerning the result of JAR, there were clear differences in hardness and boiling level according to country among spinach samples, even though they were blanched for the same time and mixed with the same spices. Koreans and Japanese evaluated that hardness and boiling level of spinach blanched for 20 seconds were proper, whereas the French evaluated that spinach scalded for 20 seconds was too raw and crispy. Under the same context, French consumers evaluated that hardness and boiling level of spinach blanched for 5 minutes was proper, whereas Koreans and Japanese evaluated that spinach blanched for 5 minutes was boiled too much. These results show that familiarity level is an important driver of affecting the preference levels for three kinds of spinach according to country.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.623-633
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• 2006

This study surveyed the selection attributes and degree of satisfaction among Japanese restaurant customers by conducting frequency analysis on the data. Among all types of Japanese restaurants customers selected sushi bars the most (48.2%), and they considered taste (73.9%), price (34.8%), and service (22.2%) to be very important. When eating at Japanese restaurants, satisfaction differences among sanitation (p<0.05), price (p<0.05), and unique design (p<0.1) each had a significant difference with F values of 3.313, 3.208, and 2,702, respectively. factor analysis of the effect of selection attributes on Japanese restaurant performance revealed three factors; image, service, and food. Their combined satisfaction was 61.41%, and each of these three factors showed a Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ value of 0.744, 0.739, and 0.623 in the reliability analysis, respectively, thus demonstrating the overall level of reliability. Multiple regression analysis showed that increased overall satisfaction of Japanese food was related to the satisfaction levels of food and service, and not to that of surrounding satisfaction.