The texture exalted in East and Southeast Asian cuisines doesn’t get much love in western culture. Why not?
Is there anything more wonderful than thick Sanuki udon, noodles so delightfully chubby and squishy, like a baby’s leg? Or milk tea with spring-loaded tapioca pearls that squeak between your teeth as you chew and chew and chew? Or sinewy, rip-curled slices of Chinese charcuterie-style beef tendon that tastes beefier and more delicious with each exerted bite?
In my opinion, food with an intentional, unapologetic chew is the best kind of food. And I’m not talking about chewiness in the way you might be familiar with in western cooking: steak that’s too rare , boiled-to-death octopus, Knox’s intensified gelatin. I’m talking about the particular, highly desirable range of chewiness in East and Southeast Asian food, known as Q in Taiwan, jjolgit jjolgit in Korea, dai in Vietnam, and other not so easily translatable terms.
Beginning with the lowest value on the chewy scale, you’ve got your noodles , sticky rice, jellies , and dumpling skins. These have a slippery texture and barely resist as you chew. Then there’s Japanese mochi and Filipino kakanin, a coconutty glutinous rice cake, with a more pliable feel that verges on tacky.
Across East and Southeast Asia, chewy isn’t just a common texture but a powerful tool deployed to make food taste better. Here in the States, first- and second-gen chefs are relying on the texture to recreate the food they grew up with. “Chewy food, if it’s cooked right, has a lot of flavor every time you take a bite,” chef Tatsu Aikawa told me. “It’s another element of taste.” At
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