mee soto broth
dish / dish-mee-soto-broth
ミーソトの汁
Mee soto broth is the broth of mee soto, used in a Singapore sensory study as a comparison target for salt reduction and taste improvement. It is not treated as a standard formulation for the regional cuisine as a whole.
On this page (5 sections)
Reading the bitterness
A Singapore sensory study examined mee soto broth as a comparison target for reducing salt and replacing existing flavor enhancers with other formulations intended to suppress bitterness and sourness. When a commercial seasoning (Ajiplus) combining MSG with nucleotide-based umami enhancers, or MSG alone, was added at 0.20% or 0.40% to reduced-salt mee soto broth, umami, chicken flavor, mouthfeel, and sweetness increased while sourness and bitterness decreased compared with the control (the reduced-salt version without additives), as reported. The differences were treated as statistically significant at both addition levels. In a difference-from-control test with a panel of 24 trained participants, these results were limited to mee soto broth made with a specific reduced-salt formulation and do not indicate a standard formulation for the regional cuisine as a whole.
In its discussion, the same paper explains the decrease in bitterness and sourness using findings from 2 earlier publications rather than measurements made in the study itself. It cites the statement that MSG is known to suppress sourness and bitterness, and the finding that nucleotide-based flavor enhancers such as IMP and GMP, which strengthen umami, may strengthen sweetness and saltiness while suppressing sourness and bitterness. However, IMP and GMP are not themselves included in the seasoning formulation of this mee soto broth; the publications are cited only as a general mechanistic explanation.
Table 7 of the same study also gives bitterness sensory-intensity values for formulations in which only NaCl was reduced, without flavor enhancers. Against the control (regular salt level) bitterness intensity of 5.94, the formulation with a 22% reduction in NaCl had 5.60 and the formulation with a 31% reduction had 5.63; neither differed significantly from the control. A significant decrease in bitterness occurred only in formulations combining a 40% reduction in NaCl with Ajiplus or MSG (4.33–4.85); reducing NaCl alone without a flavor enhancer did not change bitterness.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Summarizes the sensory-test result for decreased bitterness with MSG addition. / Introduces the mechanistic explanation based on citations of earlier publications in the discussion. / The Table 7 values show no significant difference in bitterness intensity with NaCl reduction alone.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (2)
Scope: A difference-from-control test using Singaporean mee soto broth
Note: A specific dish in which decreased bitterness and sourness were reported together with increases in umami and other attributes. Not extended to home cooking formulations in general.
Show data
dish-mee-soto-broth —has_perceived_bitterness_suppressed_by→ "Adding MSG, or an MSG-nucleotide blend seasoning, to a reduced-salt formulation"Scope: Layer: food. Difference-from-control test, a panel of 24 (mee soto broth panel), values from Table 7.
Show data
dish-mee-soto-broth —has_perceived_bitterness_unchanged_by→ "Against a bitterness sensory intensity of 5.94 for the control (blind, normal salt) mee soto broth, formulations with NaCl alone reduced by 22% (no flavor enhancer added) scored 5.60, and those reduced by 31% scored 5.63, neither significantly different from the control. Bitterness was significantly lower only for formulations with a 40% NaCl reduction plus 0.20% or 0.40% Ajiplus or MSG added (4.33-4.85, all P<0.05)."