BANDUNG, unpas.ac.id – Who does not know tteokbokki, Korean street-food snack which is currently popular among the youth, especially a fan of K-Pop and Korean drama
These snacks are mostly found on the street and has sticky texture, blended in sweet, spicy and savoury-tasted gochujang sauce. Tteokbokki is usually made from rice flour as its base, which create a white-coloured batter
However, on the hands of students of Food Technology Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Pasundan, tteokbokki is created differently in a more interesting form and eye-catching. The basic ingredients use local agricultural products, namely canna tuber flour (starch) and black rice flour.
Blackpokki, A Combination of Local Farming and Korean Taste
Blackpokki is its name, a short from black tteokpkki. Besides being eccentric and unique in terms of colour, the use of canna starch and black rice flour makes Blackpokki which has rich nutrition.
Blackpokki is the creation of Annisya Liesnawati, Dhiar Retni Panji Monesti, and Ocky Wildanthi Rizqia Achmad who won 1st place in the Food Processing Creation Competition (Lomba Kreasi Olah Pangan, LKOP) in Universitas Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa (Untirta) Bandung at the end of October 2021.
Annisya explained that canna can be used as an alternative food source because they have high content of carbohydrate and various other nutrients. Canna also contains number of important compounds such as flavonoids, saponins, and polyphenols.
“For the rice flour, we replace it with black rice flour because it contains anthocyanins and B vitamins which may not be found in tteokpokki in general,” she explained on Tuesday, 18 January 2022.
Besides being nutritious, the use of canna starch and black rice flour also improves product quality. Both are still rarely found in the offline market, but they can be purchased in the marketplace at affordable prices.
Although black tteokpokki started to be in the market, the content is different from Blackpokki. The black colour produced does not come from black rice flour, but it uses food colouring or charcoal powder (activated charcoal).
“Since it contains high carbohydrates and additional dietary fibre from black rice flour, our product is sufficient to meet calorie needs,” she said.
According to Annisya, Blackpokki has a strong differentiation compared to the other competing products; starting from the nutritional content, organoleptic, and variations of quick melt cheese filling which strengthen the taste.
The resulted texture is more or less similar to tteokpokki made of ordinary rice flour. The formulation of the gochujang sauce is also made as similar to the original ones as possible. The difference is, the gochujang used for making Blackpokki uses local gochujang and is halal-certified.
Interestingly and Safely Packaged
Besides the uniqueness being centre of attention, the product packaging also gives additional values for Blackpokki. First, the product is packed with a vacuum package to make it airtight and durable (2 days of storage period at room temperature, 2 months in the freezer). After being vacuumed, the product is put into a microwave-safe container made of Polypropylene (PP).
“This container makes it easier to serve; so once heated, it can be consumed immediately in its place. We also coat the label around the product, complete with storage methods, serving suggestions, and compositions,” she said.
Although the production, promotion, distribution, and pricing strategies have been included in the business proposals that were included in the competition, Annisya and her team admitted that they had no plans to commercialize Blackpokki because each of them was busy with their final project.
“We think that Blackpokki’s market potential is quite good, because we see the uniqueness of the products, ingredients, and the rise of Korean Culture trends. The price set is also not expensive, only 12 thousand rupiah for 100 grams. If it is sold, we will certainly highlight innovation, promotion, packaging or technology, and product benefits,” she concluded. (Reta)*
