Asia is the world’s largest continent and is home to a vast variety of cuisines. From East to West, North to South, Asian food is filled with delicious flavor's.
One of the main staples in all Asian countries is rice. Whether it’s a simple fried rice or a soupy version of risotto, Asian cuisine is full of different types of rice.
1. Satay
Satay is a traditional Asian dish that involves marinated meats being skewered and grilled. It can be made from a variety of proteins including chicken, beef, pork, lamb and even tofu.
The most popular satay is chicken, but you can also try beef, pork, fish, and other seafood. These satays are generally served with a peanut sauce that adds a sweet and savory element to the skewered meats.
There are many different variations of satay across Southeast Asia, but all have a common characteristic: the meat is skewered and grilled on bamboo or metal skewers. These skewers make it easy to hold the skewered meat and they also provide a nice, smoky taste on the grill.
You can make satay from any type of meat and you can add a number of spices to the marinade for a more flavorful satay. The main difference between satays from different countries is the seasoning and the peanut sauce that is used to serve them with.
One way to cook satay is to cut the meat into evenly sized pieces. This ensures that the meat cooks evenly and also makes it easier for the marinate to penetrate the meat. You can also soak the skewers in water for about 30 minutes before putting them on the grill.
In addition, the skewers will be more stable and will cook faster on the grill. To make sure that your satays are as tasty as possible, be sure to use quality ingredients and don’t overcook them!
The peanut sauce that is traditionally used to serve satay is called nam jim tua and it is a complex mixture of dried and fresh spices. It is seasoned with fish sauce, shrimp paste (kapee), palm sugar and tamarind. It is a must-try dipping sauce for any satay!
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2. Pad Thai
Pad Thai is a popular stir-fry dish made with a combination of noodles, tofu, eggs, and a deeply flavored, sweet-sour sauce. It’s a traditional Asian dish that has become popular worldwide.
While the base of this stir-fry is a fusion of Chinese and Thai cuisines, its flavors are distinctively Thai. Tamarind adds tart tanginess and sweetness to the noodles; palm sugar lends richness; and fish sauce intensifies the overall flavor.
It’s also a delicious way to get your daily dose of vitamin C and potassium. The dish is low in calories, fat and carbohydrates but high in protein.
This recipe for Pad Thai is quick and easy to make and it will leave you feeling full. It uses ingredients that you can easily find at your local grocery store so it’s perfect for a quick dinner.
The main ingredients in this dish are rice noodles, tofu, chicken and eggs. They are steamed and stir-fried together in a savory, sweet and tangy sauce that is primarily based on fruity tamarind paste, umami-rich fish sauce, palm sugar, and other ingredients.
You can make this dish with a variety of proteins and you can even switch up the type of noodles you use. You can also adjust the amounts of chili flakes and nam pla prik hot chili sauce to your liking.
If you want to add more flavor, try adding garlic chives. This is a type of Chinese chive that has a subtle sweet garlic flavor and it really elevates the dish!
3. Beef Rendang
Beef Rendang (also known as nasi goreng) is a traditional Indonesian dish that’s incredibly flavourful and aromatic. It’s a dry curry that is typically cooked over a long period of time to develop a thick, rich and sticky sauce.
This dish is best served with a side of coconut rice and a simple salad to balance the flavours. However, it’s also delicious on its own.
Aside from the spices and herbs, this dish uses a lot of coconut milk to make the sauce, which gives it a creamy texture. It is also enriched with palm sugar to balance out the spiciness.
It’s important to cook this curry slowly as it will only be tender when the meat is cooked through. This will ensure that the beef is extremely flavourful and melts in your mouth!
When cooking this, it’s also important to keep the heat low as you don’t want the beef to overcook. You can add some water to the pan if you’re worried about it being too dry and the curry becoming hard to chew.
Traditionally, this recipe requires ingredients from the Asian market, but you can use pantry friendly substitutes like tamarind paste and dried ginger and turmeric root. The latter is a bit harder to get but it’s worth looking out for.
The key to this dish is the combination of the herbs, spice and coconut milk. The herbs help to release the flavours from the other ingredients and create a deep, complex and oh so tasty curry. It’s important to choose herbs that will be tender when cooked and will not leave you with an icky taste.
4. Laksa
Laksa is a spicy noodle soup that’s a staple of many asian dishes. Often made with a variety of seafood, laksa can be found in varying forms throughout Southeast Asia.
There are a few different types of laksa to choose from, however the most common is Curry Laksa. This type of laksa is made with a coconut milk base. It also has a lot of herbs and spices.
The spice paste in the standard curry laksa recipe is quite thick and consists of red chillies, shallots, lemongrass, dried shrimp paste, turmeric, coriander, garlic and ginger. These are all blended together until a uniform paste is created.
This is then used as the base for the laksa soup. This is where the flavors really kick in, so you’ll want to make sure to use a good quality laksa paste.
In fact, you can easily blend this spice paste in advance and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to make your soup! This way, you can prepare the soup in no time at all and you’ll have a delicious bowl of curry laksa to share with your friends.
You can even add fried tofu puffs if you like (they’re available in the refrigerated section at Asian markets). Just be sure to add them right before serving so they heat through and aren’t too hot for your tastebuds!
A few other optional ingredients for this soup include crispy fried shallots and chilli paste. These are both popular garnishes across South East Asia and are always a great addition to any dish! These two items will bring this laksa to the next level!
5. Pig’s Blood Cake
Blood is a natural byproduct of animal slaughter that can be used in soups, stews, hot pots and more. In parts of Europe, blood sausage is the most popular way to consume it, but in Asia, there are a variety of other ways to make use of this raw ingredient.
One of the most popular is pig’s blood cake, or ti hoeh koe, which is a savory snack that was introduced to Taiwan from Fujian, China. It is made of pig’s blood congealed with sticky rice and served on a stick as a street food. It is coated in peanut powder and served with dipping sauces.
It’s a delicacy that is usually eaten on a stick as a snack and can also be cooked in a hot pot. It’s often steamed, fried or deep fried and can be found at many of the night markets in Taiwan.
The original version of this snack was steamed, but in recent years, a number of restaurants have switched to frying it. Some, like Xiaowei Yansu Ji in Beijing, have become famous for their crispy version of the snack.
Another great place to get a good bite of this dish is Be Be Restaurant in Rosemead, which serves four servings for $5 and makes it very easy to take home and enjoy. You can also try the savory version at Old Country Cafe in Alhambra, which is sweeter than other pig’s blood cakes you might find in other parts of the world but strikes a fine balance between flavor and chewiness.
While there are several restaurants that serve this traditional street snack, Zhenji Pig Blood Cake in Taiwan has been selling these on sticks for 16 years and they remain a favorite among locals. We tried the version at Xiaowei Yansu Gi in Beijing and were impressed by its firm texture and rich meaty flavor.
