I love anything squishy like a marshmallow, chalky like musk pencils, or really gummy chewy like Haribo gummy bears.
Mochi. The filling adds some taste but the outside doesn’t really taste of anything but the squishy soft texture is easily the best thing about it
Anything with a tater-tot kind of structure- loose grains that get crispy on the outside but keep it softer on the inside.
Wood ear mushrooms. They don’t have much flavor – a little olive oil can give them flavor – but they’re crunchy.
Mochi!
I also like their flavour. Especially matcha and red bean. But the texture is really what I like them for.
Deep fried mushrooms. Crunchy exterior, and an interior that explodes with juicy goodness.
Jellyfish. Also tripe, especially in pho or a taco.
Baked tofu. It’s the blandest substance in the known universe, but it’s cripsy and chewy and dense, and your brain is just like fuckyeah, protein.
Yes you can season the outside of it, but that’s true for literally any substance. Hey, if you put barbecue sauce on carpet, it becomes barbecue flavour. No kidding.
Hmmmm interesting, I’ll have to try!
A couple of things to know:
You need the ‘extra firm’ or ‘hard’ tofu - it should be as firm as a cooked chicken breast. The softer ones are just nasty for this.
Cut in smallish cubes - 1cm is perfect - toss first with salt and a little olive oil, then a spoonful of cornflour.
Spread out on parchment, then bake in a hot oven until they get some colour - around 20 min depending on a bunch of factors.
A little chilli and garlic power in there makes them amazing, but now we’re getting into actual flavour :D
I’ve been buying these “Coco rolls” snacks recently. They’re a crunchy flaky slightly sweet snack and I just can’t get enough of the texture of them. They taste good too, but it’s the texture that I crave.
Those are really great broken up over some yogurt.
Potato chips, cheetos puffs, gushers fruit snacks, twizzlers and kitkats are my go to food when I want textures more than flavor.
I love the way a popcorn kernel that’s only partially popped crunches.
Rock candy. I love how the crystals separate along flat planes as you chew. Don’t get me wrong, the sugar is nice too, but mostly it’s the texture experience for me.
I got a whole bunch of strawberry rock candy leftover from grab bags at a baby shower Like a whole box lol. Stuff is 🔥. Love the way it crumbles.
Dragee stuff. Like sweets with a hard coating and a softer inside (dragee eggs). When you break the coating the whole thing starts to melt in your mouth.
One thing I love and simply haven’t found a replacement yet: “Obstgarten” yogurt which is very fluffy quark with a bit of fruit jam underneath. I don’t want the fruit jam, but I do love the quark part. If you buy other quark products they simply don’t have the same texture (which is probably created with nitrogen in an industrial process and can’t easily be replicated at home).
