Ingredients
Preparation
Lean on breadcrumbs: Other than the obvious uses of breading and frying, you can add breadcrumbs creatively. Toast some panko with garlic and toss it all with herbs for an easy pasta topping.Chill your veg: Shocking sliced veggies like radishes or cabbage in an ice bath before eating them can up their crunch factor tenfold.Keep that skin on: Searing the skin on a piece of salmon until it is golden brown is a simple and effective way of achieving the Maillard reaction. Plus, the textural contrast between crispy skin and tender fish is fantastic.Embrace chips: Whether they are made of potato, corn, shrimp, or soy beans, chips can be used as garnish, breading, side dish…or even a main course.Work with sugar: If you’re after the most teeth-shatteringly crunchy texture, one of the best and funnest ways to do so is to learn how to make simple candies/caramels.
Make it a sandwich staple: A creamy topper on a sandwich, whether its mayo or hummus, not only helps balance the variety of textures you’ve already got in there, but it also helps hold the whole thing together.Purée your veggies: You can use a blender to turn almost any vegetable into a soup or sauce. A puréed veggie can be great for topping, drizzling, or eating on its own. Healthy, too!Use gelatin: Oftentimes we think of gelatin as only being good for JELL-O, but chef Dorsey says one of her biggest texture tips is to “thicken things with gelatin instead of flour and butter. It’s an easier way to achieve a slick, creamy texture.”Crack an egg on it: Honestly, a runny egg yolk makes a rich single-ingredient sauce, but it is also often the basis for some of the best creamy dishes like Japanese chawanmushi (egg custard) and, oh yeah, ice cream.Eat like a baby: Some of my favorite foods in the world just luxuriously spread and cover your tongue so easily and are more or less things that would be easy for a baby to eat: silken tofu, ricotta, nut butter and plain avocado. Embrace it!
Al Dente is not the only way: Tiffany says undercooking your noodles mimics the noodles you find in ramen, where an alkaline component is added for extra Q.Use shellfish: My favorite source of natural Q comes from clams, shrimp, and mussels. Eaten raw, they are not only at their springiest, but they also taste delicious steamed, fried, or grilled (and they stay chewy).Rice flour can be powerful: Tiffany says adding a bit of rice flour—or something similar, like potato starch—to baked goods or dishes like jeon (Korean pancakes) can add a satisfying chew without overpowering the dish.Add tangzhong to your baking: Tangzhong is a baking process that involves creating a roux of water (or some other liquid) and flour. Add the paste in the early stages of dough-making can lead to spectacularly chewy breads. This method is the key to making fluffy Japanese milk bread and chewy Cantonese baked goods.Get scientific: If you’ve heard of sous vide cooking before, you may have been told it’s impossible to over-cook meat with it, but chef Dorsey has used this method to cook meat for hours past when a piece of, say, brisket might be “done.” The resulting bizarre/soft/chewy texture is it, you guys.
