KOREAN STEWS FOR COLD CANADA
Spicy, flavourful dishes provide warmth, comfort to ward off the worst of winter
Late last month, we bundled up in our puffiest parkas and ventured into this winter’s first heavy duty cold snap, wishing for a dinner that would take the chill off.
We were the only people hardy enough that night to eat at Maht, a 20-seat Korean restaurant that opened in Chinatown last spring where Wei’s Noodle House used to be.
Since the early 1990s, that hole-in-the-wall address on Somerset Street West has housed a succession of tiny Vietnamese restaurants that each served appealing, affordable dishes despite their cramped quarters. We crossed our fingers for similar satisfactions at Maht, which in Korean simply means “taste.”
The cutting wind and -20 C temperatures outside called, we thought, for spicy, substantial Korean stews — robust, rugged bowls flavoured with funky gochujang paste, pepper and finely ground chilies, perhaps with bony chunks of pork or chicken adding meaty heft. We weren’t disappointed.
A sign on the wall announced that Maht’s open kitchen was serving gamjatang, a rustic soup made with pork neck bones. Having been cooked directly on the stove’s gas element, the bowl landed on our table while still bubbling ominously. We divvied up its spicy, porky contents, fortified
ourselves with broth that set our mouths thrumming, and plucked bits of long-simmered meat, soft but leached somewhat of flavour, from their bones.
Less effort to eat, and perhaps even more comforting and satisfying, was Maht’s pork and kimchee soondubu, another potently spicy stew in which soft tofu, kimchee of middling pungency and slices of pork provided contrasts.
While that dish and jjimdak, a hearty chicken stew of jolting and long-lasting pepperiness, have been on Maht’s menu for months, they seemed especially suited to warding off winter. That stew, which was meant for two and was Maht’s priciest item by a factor of two at $34.95, teemed with pieces of bone-in chicken and potatoes, slippery glass noodles, bits of mushrooms, carrots, green onions and more in a sauce that was peppery above all but also soy-salty and a touch sweet.
With all of the stews came bowls of nutty purple rice. We’ve also received small complimentary servings of kimchee and various pickled vegetables whose funky sourness offset the heat and richness of our dishes.
We proceeded our stews with some contrasting appetizers that hit the spot. Tteokkochi were skewers of crisp-fried rice cakes topped with squiggles of gochujang (savoury fermented chili paste) and pumpkin seeds, while the japchae, stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables, was salty and sweet.
At an earlier lunch visit, we began with the seafood pajeon pancake, whose tender shrimp and squid and overall tastiness made a good impression. We also had a plate of tteokbokki — rice cakes stir-fried in a spicy mishmash with slices of fish cake and cabbage.
That time, a three-chili spicy stir-fry of squid raised the bar for heat tolerance. The bulgogi- and pork-based rice bowls at lunch were more lacklustre though, especially compared to the roaringly flavourful squid dish but also because their purple rice was overcooked.
Dessert here was limited to ice creams — black sesame, red bean and ginger — which were nicely garnished and cooled our palates after those zippy stews.
Maht is licensed and serves a very small selection of beers and alcohol. Service was attentive and keen to please.
Maht, we hope, has what it takes to be more than a refuge from the polar vortex. The women who run it apply good standards preparing food that’s in keeping with the wee kitchen’s size.
And yet, on social media, the restaurant has teased us with glimpses of less common dishes that we hope might one day be offered.
We’ll be interested to see if Maht can enlarge its menu and serve more tastes of Korea.