To prepare the gels,the frozen surimi was tempered at 4 1C for 3–4 h until the core temperature reached 0–2 1C.
The surimi was then cut in to small pieces with an approximate thickness of 1 cm.
The surimi was placed in a mixer. The moisture was adjusted to 80% and 2.5% salt was added.The mixture was chopped for 1 min until the viscous paste was obtained. ZnSO4 or ZnCl2 was added into the paste to obtain the various final concentrations(0,20,40,60 and 80 mmol/kg paste). The mixture was chopped for another 4 min. All processes were performed in a walk-in cold room (4 1C).