摘要：The purpose of this study was to develop a processing method to soften intramuscular bones, such as ribs, while maintaining the taste and physical properties of traditional conger eel kabayaki. The steamed product produced by one of the methods for processing kabayaki was evaluated, and it was found that the ribs were hardly softened, and the sensation of foreign bodies in the mouth due to bones was clearly felt. However, the sensory evaluation of the retort products showed that there was no bone-related foreign body sensation, and the ribs of some products were so soft that they could not be detected. In oven-cooked products, the ribs were softened when the oven temperature was set to 140°C and 150°C but not at 130°C. Products manufactured in a 150°C oven were found to be overdry on the surface and burnt. The size of the conger eel needed to be less than 253 g to soften the ribs in the 140°C oven (oven-140 product). The moisture content of the retort product was 84.0%, which was relatively higher than that of steamed (65.7%) and oven-140 (66.8%) products. Total free amino acids were the highest when using the retort method to soften bones. The physical properties of conger eel products showed that the oven-140 product is different from the retort product and is similar to the steam product. The sensory evaluation of the products also showed that the sensory properties of the oven-140 product were those of the steamed product but were distinctly different from those of the retort product.
