Here Are 38 Delicious Asian Street Foods, Ranging From Sweet To Savory, That You Didn't Know You Needed To Try
Before my first taste of Thai green curry, I had no idea what to expect, but the vibrant color and fragrance attracted me. Once I tried it, I noticed the coconut milk added a sweetness to the spice, and the textures of tofu and bamboo shoots added depth to the dish.
It's important to note that Asia is a large continent with more than 40 countries. Dishes across Asia are very diverse, though flavors may overlap as different cultures influence one another. For instance, on certain Thai menus, you might come across roti, which has origins in India.
While green curry is only one of many street foods in Asia, it provides a blueprint of what you can expect of any Asian street food: variety, flavor, and culinary innovation that pays homage to culture and tradition. So without further ado, here are 40 absolutely mouthwatering street foods you can find throughout Asia:
1.Drunken Noodles
Drunken Noodles is a traditional street food in Bangkok, Thailand. They are wide stir-fried noodles with a spicy flavoring. According to theories the noodles are so spicy that it should be eaten with an ice-cold beer, and it is the perfect cure for a hangover.
2.Pad Thai
Pad Thai is a thin rice noodle dish with tamarind paste, palm sugar, eggs, and tofu. The dish is traditionally made with fish and oyster sauce. Bean sprouts, peanuts, and a lime wedge are often included as a garnish.
The great thing about Pad Thai it can easily be customized by adding seafood, chicken, or sticking with vegetables. Like many Asian cuisines, the meal combines a sweet and savory flavor.
3.Pad See Ew
Pad See Ew is a Thai dish made of stir-fried rice noodles, soy sauce, pork, egg, and kale. This very popular meal can be found on most Thai menus. It has a similar texture to drunken noodles, however, pad see ew is salty and savory rather than hot and spicy.
4.Com Tam
Com Tam (broken rice) is a Vietnamese staple and is said to taste better than regular rice. After the Vietnam War, it was difficult to get rice, so during the rice grinding process, farmers collected the broken pieces of rice.
This is not a dish that is easy to make because the broken rice is hard to cook (hey, I mess up rice using a rice cooker). The broken rice is usually topped with a sunny-side-up egg, pickled radish, grilled pork chop, and fish sauce.
5.Tom Yum
Another Thai favorite is tom yum, a soup usually made with prawns or shrimp and a sweet and sour broth.
6.Crab Omelette or Oyster Omelette
A typical street food in Bangkok, these omelettes are often made with fresh crab, minced pork, and eggs made with pepper and fish sauce. The egg is also deep-fried in vegetable oil with red chili peppers, coriander, and scallions.
7.Curried Crab
Curried Crab is a mainstay in Thai cuisine as well, the dish is usually made with curry powder, oyster sauce, and roasted chili paste.
8.Thai Green or Red Curry
Green curry is very hot and spicy. The curry is made of coconut milk, green curry paste, palm sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil. Green curry paste is often made from green chilies, shrimp paste, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, peppercorns, makrut limes, and cumin seeds.
The dish itself has many vegetables including bamboo shoots, red bell peppers, eggplant, and carrots. It also usually has tofu. It's a great vegan or vegetarian dish if you can take the heat. Typically, green curry is served with rice to help cool the flavors, and the mixture of coconut adds a welcomed sweet flavor.
9.Dry Rice Porridge
Rice porridge with coconut milk — similar to oatmeal — may be plain, sweetened, or savory. It can be made with just rice and water, or rice and milk.
10.Dumplings
Dumplings are a traditional food across Asia. Though the fillings can vary, the dough is either fried or steamed.
11.Shumai
Shumai is another variation of a dumpling. This type of dumpling is traditionally steamed and filled with seafood like shrimp or prawns, and it's especially common in China and Japan.
12.Fried Rice
Traditional fried rice is a staple in many Asian countries. It's usually made with sesame oil, soy sauce, scrambled eggs, and vegetables.
13.Lumpia Spring Rolls
Lumpia is a snack food in the Philippines and Indonesia. Vegetable lumpia is often made with garlic cloves, onions, bell peppers, and vegetables, then coated and fried in a small amount of oil.
14.Tuslob Buwa
Tuslob buwa is a hot gravy with rice. The gravy usually includes sautéed onions, garlic, and pig brain. The rice is gathered in a round form and dipped into the gravy. The dish is popular in Cebu, Philippines.
15.Chiayi Turkey Rice
This meal originates from Taiwan and consists of slow-cooked turkey. The broth is a combination of pork stock and fried shallots.
16.Douhua (Tofu Pudding)
Another popular Taiwanese dish is a sweet treat called douhua. The pudding is made from soy milk that has been boiled for days, tofu, ginger, and liquid sugar. The toppings usually include sweetened tapioca pearls and peanuts.
17.Gejang
This traditional Korean food is created with a marinated composed of soy sauce, water, dried chili pepper, ginger, apple, dried kelp, onion, garlic, and rice syrup. The raw crabs are then brined in the marinade.
18.Kimbap Rice Rolls
Kimbap is a South Korean staple. Dried seaweed paper is filled with rice, vegetables, and sometimes seafood, egg, or meat. It's then topped with sesame seeds. The roll is also coated in sesame seed oil.
19.Wonton Noodles
This dish is very popular in Singapore and has Cantonese origins. It typically includes barbecued pork and vegetables with large egg noodles that may be steamed or fried.
20.Gamja Hotdog
Korean corn dogs, or gamja hotdogs, are a popular local street food in South Korea. It's typically made of sausages or mozzarella cheese on sticks deep-fried. The batter can be made from panko, ramen, or french fry pieces.
21.Baked Baffle
Baked baffle combines traditional Korean ingredients to make a modern dish. It's similar to an English muffin in concept but is made with baked rice (as the "bread") and filled with egg, cabbage, bacon, or shrimp. A combination of milk sauce, brown sauce, and chili sauce is usually drizzled on top.
22.Bindaetteok
This is a traditional Korean pancake, made by grinding and soaking mung beans, then adding vegetables and meat and panfrying it into a circular flat shape.
23.Shawarma
Shawarma is a popular street food in the Middle East. The lamb or chicken (though other meats can be used), in particular, is made by slicing the meat into thin cuts and layering them to roast on a vertical rotisserie or spit. The meat is then stuffed into a pita along with vegetables and condiments. Vegetarian variations of street food include fresh vegetables, sauce, and chickpeas.
24.Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas)
This northern Indian dish consists of spicy, split chickpeas that are cooked and then lightly fried. The sauce is made with turmeric, ground cardamom, bay leaf, sunflower oil, and garlic cloves.
25.Seekh Kababs
A traditional Pakistani street food, these kebabs are made from ground meat — traditionally lamb — and seasoned with cloves and black and green cardamom. They're then grilled over an open flame.
26.Mutton Korma
Another traditional Indian and Pakistani meal, mutton korma consists of braised meat cooked with fried onions and yogurt.
27.Chole Bhature
Chole Bhature is a staple breakfast in India and is sold at many food stalls. The dish consists of chole (a curry), made of boiled chickpeas that are heavily spiced (usually with coriander, mint green chili, and pomegranate seeds). It's then served with bhature (a puffy bread) made with ghee.
28.Samosa
Samosas are popular in India (as well as Western and Central Asia). The triangular-shaped dough (usually made with all-purpose flour called maida) is typically stuffed with spiced potatoes, peas, meat, or fish before being baked or fried.
29.Aloo Tiki
Aloo Tikki is a traditional Indian dish with deep-fried chaat potatoes topped with chutney, yogurt, vegetables, and chickpeas. The meal has a sweet and sour flavor with a spicy crunch.
30.Jajan Pasar
These sweet treats — often found in the markets of Yogyakarta, Indonesia — consist of small wrapped cakes made of palm sugar, sticky rice, cassava, and coconut. They're then covered in caramelized Javanese sugar.
31.Gudeg (Jackfruit Stew)
Gudeg is a Javanese food from Indonesia. It's made with jackfruit — a popular ingredient throughout Indonesia — and red onions, garlic, coriander seeds, bay leaf, and blue ginger.
32.Mie Lethek (Ugly Noodles)
An Indonesian dish, mie lethek translates to "ugly" or "dirty" noodles since the dish has a pale or "ugly" look to it. This is because it's made of cassava (a root vegetable) noodles and sweet potato flour, which results in a grayish tint.
33.Pho
This staple Vietnamese food is often served at street stalls and consists of bone broth, thinly sliced meat, and rice noodles. The broth is seasoned with herbs and vegetables.
34.Banh Mi
A popular street food in Saigon, banh mi is a Vietnamese baguette with a crispy and spongey texture. The baguette is stacked like a submarine sandwich with chicken, meatballs, pate lunch meat, vegetables, and sauce.
35.Chicken Rice
A home-cooked Singapore chicken rice meal with chilli, ginger, and dark sauce dip. In Singapore, chicken rice is often thought of as a comfort food and most cooks stick to traditional recipes that allow the chicken to have a familiar taste. The chicken is traditionally steeped in boiling water and then blanched to remain tender.
36.Stir-Fried Water Spinach
A classic Vietnamese vegetable dish, stir-fried water spinach is quite simply made by stir-frying water spinach (also called morning glory) with oil, garlic, oyster sauce, and some sugar. It's sometimes served with a protein option. Water spinach is also popular throughout Asia as a vegetable side.
37.Mont Lin Mayar (Husband and Wife Snack)
Mont Lin Mayar is a traditional street snack in Mynamar that translates literally to "husband and wife snack." The bite-sized snack is made of a round, crispy, and savory pancake with a batter consisting of chickpeas, rice flour, quail eggs, and spring onions.
38.Putu Piring
Popular in Singapore, putu piring is a sweet dumpling dessert made of rice flour dough filled with palm sugar (and sometimes ground peanuts or shredded coconut). While there are two classic shapes of putu piring — one that's thicker and rounder and another that's flatter and more disc-like — the dessert is usually given a flower shape using stainless steel molds.
Have you tried any of these Asian street foods and snacks? Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out more API-centered content by exploring how BuzzFeed is celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! Of course, the content doesn't end after May. Follow BuzzFeed’s A*Pop on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to keep up with our latest API content year-round.
