BootsnAll Travel Community

Can you pick one country with your all-time favorite Asian food?? I tried, I cannot...

It is impossible for me to narrow it down with so many tasty cuisines under the Asian umbrella, and all these I only know from eating outside of Asia, so my views are distorted, but I really like

Japanese
Indian
Vietnamese

I think I could eat any of these countries' foods for a year or more and be straight. I eat them often in HNL, especially Vietnamese. I need to go to Vietnam and see how it compares to here.

n u?

Thai

Well, I grew up on it, so how could it not be my all-time favorite?

Will sample the dishes *in* Thailand sometime in the future

Noodles always get me, I'm a sucker for the noodles. True story.

Oh, god! How can I choose? Thai and Indian are definitely up there at the top, as is Japanese. Oh, and Chinese for the sheer variety of great stuff. But then Singapore laksa is heavenly, as is Vietnamese pho...

Really, how can I choose?

One country? Impossible since Asian food is so diverse and complex. Anyway, here are my favorites:

Japanese - tempura, sushi, shabu-shabu, ramen, soba
Thai - curries, phad thai
Korean - kalbi, bulgogi, kimchi, chapchae

Ok. I'm adding a new name-

Thai food is a given, one of the best

Vietnamese food is quite excellent, and I love their beef noodle soups.

Now, heres the surprise entry

Malaysia. So far, after eating home cooked malaysian food, I was knocked for a loop. The spices, and the combination of hot, sweet, and sour just wow you.

That and their Fried noodles, only its not just fried noodles, its a sweet/sour brown sauce with more than a touch of chile, and I lived on it for weeks.

Chinese food? Since travelling, and eating it in singapore, ,malaysia, and other countries. I'll take a pass on most of it. But that's just me.

Although one of my grandmothers is Japanese, and I love her (now relatively Americanized) cooking, I'm not a big fan of Japanese Japanese food. When I went to Japan, I tried to be cool and ate it for the first two days, and got incredibly sick. I couldn't stand the food, and drank coke and basically starved for the rest of my stay.. No one had sympathy for the poor Americanized girl. :/ The last day there, my aunt talked me into drinking a little shabu shabu soup made with soy milk, and I threw up.. Just the smell of Japanese food makes me queasy now.

I second pho; that's my favorite noodle soup on the planet. Vietnamese food all around is pretty tasty.

I never cared much for Thai food until I went to Thailand. Bad luck in choice of restaurants I guess... But now, not only is it by far my favorite Asian food, It is very close to taking first place overall away from Mexican. BTW, some/most of the absolute best of the best came from street vendors for 35-70 baht.

Exactly the opposite when it comes to Chinese food. I didn't like the "real deal" stuff in Hong Kong, China, and Singapore nearly as much as the "Americanized" version here in the states.

I just spent 10 gastronomic days in Thailand because I love Thai food here in the U.S. What a world of difference to eat authentic Thai food. Pad Thai for 25 Bhat (a little more than 50 cents) you can't beat it. And that's just street food! I took 2 days of classes in Chiang Mai and learned to cook 10 dishes. Definitely a must. Thai food rules!!!

Vietnamese Pho is great comfort food. And I can put away Chinese dumplings (jiao zi).

I grew up on Indian food and I think I had too much of it because I literally get sick eating it now. Sigh.

Vietnamese is it for me!
Although... Korean food is pretty darn tasty. I love those spicy mushroom tofu stews with the side dishes.

This is hard!!!

I'm eating Korean vegetables and rice right now, I LOVE the spices, cucumber kim chee is my favorite and they pile on the vegetables here, typically. My main gripe with Korean is that it seems to be VERY MEATY. I eat seafood but usually not other fleshes, and I love me some fish jun, but cannot partake of the kal bi etc

How does this compare with Korea-Korean food?? are there more/less veggie options in Korea?

Thai food is good as hell too... used to be a weekly favorite b/c Thai restaurants are so common on the mainland, but here, its Vietnamese on every other block. They even make a tofu pho with vegetarian soup base here on campus... not as good as the beef stock tho, I must admit.

I spent months in a smallish city in Korea where virtually the only alternative to hard core Korean food was McDs, Dominos, or cook it yourself. I found almost all Korean food to be disgusting, most of all the meat. Beef marinated in the most sickening sweet manner, or pork that is 80% fat. The cooking at your table idea is great, but not with the choice of meat you have. Many of the cold side dishes are "ok" but not sufficient for survival. Kimchee is great...once or twice a month... I lost over 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks I was there. There is one soup made with a soybean paste that includes mushrooms and other veggies and many times small clams in the shell and is very spicy which was very good. Mainly because it actually had salt in it instead of sugar.(Most Koreans hated it,LOL) It was also hard to find. Fortunately, I had a small kitchen in my apartment, and a market close, and was able to cook my own food. Not something I want to do every day when I'm working 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, but in this case, absolutely necessary for survival.

Oh, and one other thing. Stuffing meat and other things inside of a lettuce leaf and eating it with your fingers is only made worse with the tradition of the younger members of your dining group insisting on doing it for you and literally cramming it down your throat. Sorry, not into it.

wow braslvr you've all but convinced me that Americanized (or Hawaii-ized) Korean is the best. I actually feel a little sick now. I have had some quality dishes here tho, dunno if it is inthe ingredients or the preparation.

GIven the diversity of the continent - I love Malay,Vietnamese,Thai,Korean BBQ.... South Indian,etc...

Indian..so much variety from the north to the south..east to west.

Indian rest's in the west only showcase North Indian food..very rarely do you find authentic food from rest of the regions. Well i have my kitchen.

After that I have to say Thai!! it rocks. Soon i will stock up on the ingredients so that I can make some at home. I need to take some classes though OR fly Marisa to San francisco

quote:

Originally posted by Madhu:
Indian..so much variety from the north to the south..east to west.

Indian rest's in the west only showcase North Indian food..very rarely do you find authentic food from rest of the regions. Well i have my kitchen.

I was wondering about the authenticity of Indian food in the States... I was thinking that the California Pizza Kitchen Tandoori chicken was not the most accurate representation heh

I really like Indian breads like naan and roti, also samosas, that spicy yoghurt, cucumber sauce and of course, vegetarian curry everything~ here I go making myself hungry again~

So what will you be showcasing for us in your kitchen when I am in SF this weekend? (kidding....)

quote:

Originally posted by mina olen:

I was wondering about the authenticity of Indian food in the States... I was thinking that the California Pizza Kitchen Tandoori chicken was not the most accurate representation heh

I really like Indian breads like naan and roti, also samosas, that spicy yoghurt, cucumber sauce and of course, vegetarian curry everything~ here I go making myself hungry again~

So what will you be showcasing for us in your kitchen when I am in SF this weekend? (kidding....)

ANYTIME Mina!! Will be glad to make a local delicacy from my native town! and am not KIDDING.

You name it we have it...Persian/Turkish influences in Hyderabadi Cuisine ( in the south)..Pourtuguese influences in dishes from Goa. French influences in Pondicherry. Each state in India has its own cuisine..seriously. Kashmiri's in the north have some influences from Afghan and even Russian. What you get is only a fraction of what one could spend a lifetime discovering in India!

oh yea, thanks for reminding me, Indian hospitality is excellent too~ I may have to take you up on that one day thank you for continuing to pique my interest in Indian food...

I also grew up on Asian food, and a fusion of Spanish-Filipino dishes. I LOVE Asian food, and I think it's the best in the world. Japanese, Thai & Indian top my list. Vietnamese too, and Korean! lol

i always feel the best indian food is in england in restaurants run by bangladeshis from sylhet

oh and the kashmir in penang is a quality dining option, especially the pullao rice

but thai food - wow!

penang neua
laab gai
yam neua
gaeng kieow whan gai
paad siew muu