Tendon the Achilles tendon stretches as the ankle joint dorsiflexes. During the last portion of the stride, as the foot plantar-flexes (pointing the toes down), the stored elastic energy is released. Furthermore, because the tendon stretches, the muscle is able to function with less or even no change in length, allowing the muscle to generate greater force. The mechanical properties of the tendon are dependent on the collagen fiber diameter and orientation. The collagen fibrils are parallel to each other and closely packed, but show a wave-like appearance due to planar undulations, or crimps, on a scale of several micrometers. In
Tendon as food taste of deep-fried tendon as being similar to "chicharrón" (fried pork belly). One popular Chinese dish is "suànbào niújīn" (蒜爆牛筋), where the tendon is marinated in garlic; it is often served at "dim sum" restaurants. In Indonesian cuisine, "bakso urat" is beef meatball filled with pieces of tendon, while "soto kaki" is spicy cow's trotters soup which includes cow's leg tendons. Another dish is "mie kocok" which is a noodle dish with meatballs, beansprouts and pieces of beef tendon. In Japanese cuisine, beef tendon ("gyū-suji") is a common ingredient in oden. In Korean cuisine, beef tendon known as "soesim" ()