Sticky Fattiness

The British food writer of the Economist puts her finger on why Asians relish foods that Westerners are indifferent to or are even disgusted by: an appreciation of texture. [bold added]

According to one study, Americans use just 78 words to describe the texture of food. By contrast, there are more than 400 such terms in Japanese. Puri-puri describes the feel of biting into something like a prawn, bouncy, with a slight resistance; neba-neba, the slimy, viscous feel of foods such as natto, fermented soyabeans. Shuko Oda, head chef at Koya, an udon bar in London, says that only Japanese customers order it; the rest balk at the snot-like strings clinging to the beans.

In China, texture is part of the pleasure of food and people praise the feel as much as flavour, says Fuchsia Dunlop, a British writer on Chinese food. Ingredients are used for their mouth-feel alone. Birds’ nests and sharks’ fins don’t taste of much, but both contribute a gelatinous texture that is prized. For non-natives, the choicest textures can be puzzling, at best.

Chicken feet ordered at Graton, 2015

Every Chinese-American adult male of my father's generation loved to munch on chicken feet. As children they ate them out of economic necessity---the butcher gave bags of animal parts away---but they continued to hanker after the dish even when the budget had room for steak. As children we tried them only after repeated assurances that the feet had been thoroughly washed, seasoned, and cooked for hours. Now we appreciate the combination of spiciness and gelatinous texture.

Before pressure-cooking,
but after parboiling

Pork trotters slow-cooked for hours are also a much-loved delicacy. When I was last in Hawaii I filled an Instant Pot with several pounds of pigs' feet, ginger, garlic, sugar, and soy sauce. After two hours under pressure the mucilage-rich dish was ready. The sticky fattiness is part of the pleasure.

Hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it.