HOKKU-RI ほっくり
Meanings
Describes a warm, pleasantly soft, slightly firm and crumbly or starchy texture, especially in cooked root vegetables, squash, and similar foods.
Examples
People’s preferences for roasted sweet potatoes can roughly be divided into the HOKKU-RI camp and the NETTO-RI camp.
焼き芋の好みは「ほっくり派」か「ねっとり派」に大別される。
Dogmatic Opinion
This is a texture word I associate with sweet potatoes, potatoes, and kabocha squash after they have been baked, steamed, or otherwise cooked.
There is no excessive moisture. The food retains a little firmness while still being properly soft.
It sits right on the border of feeling slightly floury or powdery without becoming unpleasantly dry.
Warmth is also surprisingly important to my image of HOKKU-RI. A cold food with the same measured texture would not evoke the word quite as readily.
Related Words
For Japanese Learners
Fluffy and starchy, pleasantly crumbly, floury, or soft and mealy may fit depending on the food. HOKKU-RI contrasts especially well with NETTO-RI in sweet potatoes: HOKKU-RI is drier, fluffier, and more crumbly; NETTO-RI is denser, moister, and more paste-like.
