A Peking duck dinner is on the must-do list of every visitor to China’s capital, usually sandwiched between a long day getting lost in the labyrinth of the Forbidden City and sweating their way to the top of the Great Wall.
If you’re familiar with our blog, then you already know how much we love eating local food when we travel. A lot of that traveleating involves street food, which in many countries, has a reputation for being less than sanitary. The Philippines is one of those countries.
Even if you aren’t familiar with Vietnamese food, chances are you’ve heard of phở. It’s a popular Vietnamese street food and is considered a national dish of Vietnam. For me, it’s the quintessential Vietnamese food and the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the cuisine.
There are many varieties of fresh spring rolls but my hands down favorite is the Vietnamese gỏi cuốn. Translucent with alternating hues of orange and green, not only are they some of the tastiest fresh spring rolls, they’re also among the prettiest.
We enjoy eating local food on our trips, but to actually learn how to make these dishes yourself is a different kind of experience. It puts you on both sides of the table and gives you a better understanding and appreciation for the cuisine.
Lumping this polymorphous staple of Chinese cuisine into one generic term is much like saying your favorite hue is “color” — there are literally endless variations and it would be impossible for one single description to embody all the different types of dumplings that exist in the multiple regions of the Middle Kingdom.
When debating on the national dish of Israel, most will say it’s falafel. While falafel has all the fame, it is its lesser known cousin – sabich – that will be declared as the national dish by many Israelis. It sure is my personal favorite among all our local street food.
Practically all the meals we had on this trip were planned and carefully researched beforehand. It’s important for us to find the best places to eat on our trips so we hardly ever walk into random restaurants. Ufufu restaurant in Kurokawa Onsen was one of those rare times, and by chance, it turned out to be one of our best meals in Japan.
To be honest, I became enamored with zaru soba even before I got my first taste of it in Japan. I had seen the Hokkaido episode of No Reservations and became mesmerized watching that soba master make the buckwheat noodles from scratch. It was beautiful to watch and had me yearning for authentic soba ever since.
Hitsubamushi is an eel specialty dish of Nagoya in Aichi prefecture. It’s served in a bowl over rice with a side of yakumi (condiments) and dashi (soup stock).