Food in Asia

Tumpeng is kind of a sacred meal for Indonesians. Its cone shape (usually, but not exclusively, made from rice and urab) is golden yellow and represents the island.

Most of the time, we visit wet markets during the day but thanks to A Chef’s Tour, I got to experience one of Hanoi’s biggest markets at the crack of dawn, when it’s at its liveliest. The difference in market activity between 5AM and 11AM is literally like night and day.

Chicken tikka masala is a heavenly dish made with boneless chunks of roasted marinated chicken swimming in a delicious creamy curry. Though it’s clearly an Indian-influenced dish, its exact origins are unknown.

Dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine. It can be found in different forms throughout the country, though it’s most closely associated with Hong Kong and Guangdong Province – ie Cantonese cuisine.

Fried rice is believed to have started as a means to deal with leftovers, specifically meat and vegetables from yesterday that have passed their prime but are still good to consume. The standard ingredients are generally shrimp, pork, and egg, which are stir-fried in chopped garlic and vegetables, and seasoned with soy sauce.

Char siu refers to barbecued pork and is the most popular type of siu mei in Cantonese cuisine. The term char siu literally means “fork roasted” and refers to the traditional method of skewering seasoned boneless pork with long forks and cooking it over an open fire.

Hong Kong is a gastronomic city in every way, offering a range of experiences from fine dining to street food, a lot of it at a very high level.

This Hong Kong food tour takes you to key spots in Kowloon like Mongkok and Sham Shui Po to give you the most authentic examples of Cantonese cuisine. There are no touristy stops on this tour. Each place has a long history and many of them are known only to locals.

Tom yum goong is a hot and sour shrimp soup generally touted as the dish that defines Thai cuisine. It’s derived from the Thai words “tom,” which refers to the boiling process, “yam,” a Thai spicy and sour salad, and “goong” for shrimp.

Phuket was once a port of call, routinely seeing traders from China, India, Malaysia, Persia, Arabia, Indonesia, and Portugal. Each of these traders brought with them spices, recipes, and cooking techniques that helped shape Phuket’s cuisine.