The culinary treasures in the country are increasingly crowded with the presence of Korean mozzarella cheese potato snacks, Gamchi. How halal is it?
Culinary lovers in Indonesia are treated to a new Korean specialty called Gamchi, which is now viral on various social media. As reported by popma.com, Gamchi is an abbreviation of gamja (potato) and chijeu (cheese). The characteristics of this snack include the presence of bread containing potatoes, and each menu contains mozzarella cheese.
In Korea, potato cheese bread is often sold in hotteok, a typical Korean pancake made from glutinous rice flour and a combination of red beans. The characteristic of Gamchi lies in the use of mashed potatoes and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese in the bread dough.
When baked, all layers of bread, cheese and potatoes blend. With a soft and melt-in-your-mouth texture, the dense Gamchi mozzarella tastes like pizza but also like chewy mochi. The savory taste of the bread combined with potatoes and mozzarella cheese makes this food very popular with Indonesian people.
In Indonesia, Gamchi was first sold in Jakarta two years ago. However, Gamchi outlets have recently spread from Jabodetabek to other cities in Indonesia, such as Surabaya, Solo, and Jogjakarta. Although relatively new, Gamchi outlets in various locations have attracted attention because they carry the concept of street food and are sold at relatively affordable prices, between IDR 30,000 and IDR 50,000.
Raw Materials and Manufacturing Process
Gamchi is a relatively simple food made from the main ingredients of potatoes, flour, liquid milk, salt, pepper, sugar, salt, cheese and mozzarella. The potatoes are boiled until soft, removed and drained. Cooking cream, pepper and salt are added, and all are mashed with a fork until smooth.
Next, all the ingredients are mixed evenly and kneaded until they are no longer sticky to the container and left for 30 minutes. Flatten into a wide circle, medium thickness. Then, the cheddar and mozzarella mixture are placed in the middle of the bread dough and layered with mashed potatoes. The bread dough is covered until it expands perfectly, and then Gamchi is ready to be baked.
Halal Aspect
Although the main ingredient is potatoes, if you look at the additional ingredients used, there are several critical points of ingredients that must be observed for their halalness in making Gamchi. These ingredients include flour, cheese, mozzarella, sugar and milk.
The halalness of wheat needs to be observed from the raw materials, additional ingredients and auxiliary materials used. Although wheat as a raw material is clearly halal, in the manufacturing process, it is fortified to increase its vitamin and mineral content; the fortifiers commonly used are iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and folic acid.
Vitamins are produced from the process of biotransformation or chemical synthesis. In contrast, biotransformation uses microorganisms that are multiplied in a growth medium that requires a carbon source and a nitrogen source that can come from haram animals or halal animals that are not slaughtered according to Islamic rules so that their status becomes non-halal.
Other fortifiers, such as the amino acid L-cysteine, ​​​​are also commonly used as wheat gluten softeners. L-cysteine ​​​​can come from human hair extraction, animal fur extraction, and microbial products. L-cysteine ​​​​derived from human hair is clearly haram. Based on MUI Fatwa No. 2/MUNASVI/MUI/2000, the use of body parts is forbidden. L-cysteine ​​​​from animal fur needs to be investigated further.
Sheep’s wool can be taken while still alive, but poultry will be sick if their feathers are taken, so they must be slaughtered first. This slaughter must be in accordance with Islamic rules. Meanwhile, microbial products require more complex investigations, including microbial cultures, media materials, purification materials, auxiliary materials and other materials used.
The next ingredient to watch out for is cheese. Cheese is milk that is curdled or coagulated using enzyme and acid coagulants to produce curd (the curdled part), which is separated from whey (the liquid part). The enzyme commonly used is the rennet enzyme, which comes from the stomach of a young mammal who is still breastfeeding. It becomes a critical point in tracing the animals used and how they are slaughtered.
The use of this rennet enzyme is usually done together with the addition of lactic acid bacteria, not only to facilitate the coagulation process but also to produce a certain flavor or taste. Lactic acid bacteria are also microbial products that need to have their fermentation media ascertained.
Likewise, with sugar, there are various types of sugar, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, and others, that function as sweeteners or preservatives in food products. Crystal sugar from sugar cane juice is the most widely circulated on the market through the process of extraction, purification, evaporation, crystallization, centrifugation, and drying.
Purification is a critical point for halal sugar if animal derivatives are used; purification can use activated carbon filtration agents and ion exchange resins. Activated carbon removes the natural brown color (decolorization) of sugar to pure white. Activated carbon can come from plants, coal, chemicals, or animal bones. In ion exchange resins, it is necessary to pay attention to whether gelatin is used as a dispersant agent, gelatin itself can come from animal bones. In addition, if the sugar-making process uses microbial products, it must be ensured that the media used is halal and not contaminated with impurities.
With the explanation above, Gamchi lovers must be patient enough to enjoy halal Gamchi sold in various shopping centers in Indonesia until Korean food obtains a halal certificate. However, if you want to make it yourself, make sure the ingredients used are guaranteed halal by looking at the halal label on the packaging for each ingredient used. Restaurant owners selling Gamchi who are interested in obtaining halal certification and accessing various services related to LPPOM MUI, including food testing laboratories, can access the hotline 14056, Whatsapp +62811-1148-696 and the following link: https://halalmui.org/pengenalan-sertifikasi-halal/ (***)
