chewy – Michael Eats

Chewy Korean Noodles at Cho Sun Ok

Published on January 3, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 7353 Yonge Street, Thornhill
Website: http://www.chosunok.ca/

Cho Sun Ok does well. I showed up at around 6:00 on a Friday, which you’d think would be early enough to beat the crowds, but nope — the place was already packed. Always a good sign.

And yeah, it’s quite good. While they have a fairly extensive menu of Korean standbys, everyone seems to agree that the cold naengmyun noodles are the thing to order.

I went with the mool naengmyun: “Thin, chewy arrowroot noodles topped with our homemade red pepper sauce, sesame seed oil, pickled daikon, slivers of cucumber, a slice of pear and a hard-boiled egg in our flavourful beef based icy broth.”

The style of noodles here are so immensely chewy that they have to be cut with scissors before you start eating them, and combined with the zippy pepper sauce and the beefy, salty cold broth (not to mention the crunchy veggies), it’s a very satisfying dish. It’s easy enough to see why the place is so popular.

Unique Arabic Ice Cream at Pinochi Ice Cream

Published on October 9, 2022October 9, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2340 Council Ring Road, Unit 104, Mississauga
Website: https://pinochiicecream.ca/

The Arabic ice cream they’re serving at Pinochi is pretty fascinating; it’s made with mastic (which is actually the resin from a type of tree), and it has an unusual, ultra-chewy texture that’s surprisingly addictive.

If you’ve never had it before, however, it’s going to be a bit of a shock. It’s so incredibly dense and chewy that it’s pretty difficult to eat with a spoon (a fork and knife are probably advisable). It’s deeply springy, with an almost chewing-gum-like texture that eventually melts in your mouth. It’s very, very different from traditional ice cream, but once you get on its wavelength, it’s quite enjoyable.

Pinochi serves it rolled and then sliced, with a generous amount of crushed pistachios on its exterior, giving it a great nutty flavour. The mastic has its own flavour, too; Wikipedia describes it as tasting of pine and cedar, and yeah, that’s probably right. The taste is quite subtle, but it definitely adds its own unique personality.

Pistachio ice cream is a tried-and-true flavour, but between the taste and texture of the mastic, this one is very much its own thing, and it’s great.

Ultra-Chewy Noodles at Potato Noodle Soup of Bai

Published on October 1, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4350 Steeles Avenue East, Markham
Website: None

I’ve had a lot of noodles over the course of my life, but — until now — I don’t think I’d ever tried potato noodles.

As the name implies, potato noodles are made with potato starch, which gives them a much, much chewier consistency than the norm.

Though I’ve heard good things about the cold noodles Potato Noodle Soup of Bai, I decided to go with the noodle soup — mostly because “noodle soup” is right there in the name.

I got the plain potato noodle soup, which comes with noodles, meatballs, fish balls, half an egg, and various odds and ends in a fiery broth.

The noodles are really interesting. There’s a Korean dish called jjolmyeon that features noodles that are so incredibly chewy you have to cut them with scissors before you start eating. These kind of reminded me of a thicker, slightly less chewy version of those.

The broth was a bit saltier than I’d like, but it was otherwise quite tasty, with a spicy kick and an almost creamy richness that you only get from a stock that’s been simmered for a long, long time.

The whole thing was fairly tasty, though with Sun’s Kitchen just a few steps away, I don’t know that I’d ever eat here again.