Sticky Rice with Mango – Traveling Noodles

When I look back at the countries I have been to and my expanding waistline, I realize that I have sampled a fair bit of International cuisines. Some I have been so enamored by that I have waited in serpentine queues to eat the same dish again and again. Some of these dishes I have attempted at home with my own twists and turns and have been fairly successful at creating edible food. A few of these dishes have strong memories associated with them of friendships, journeys, a grateful stomach and sometimes they are also a reminder of tough time. This is my round up of 20 International dishes that I cherish and have been an important part of my journeys.

Injera

Injera is a pancake/dosa made of lentils and some other magic. It is an important part of an Ethiopian meal which is usually shared by 3-4 people on a big plate. The plate would have the injera in the center and the different gravies, curries, chicken and vegetables on the sides. I came across Injera for the first time in New York and have been a fan ever since.

Baklava

By User:Kultigin (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons — Baklava Turkish Special

Baklava is a fluff pastry with sweet almonds, pista and goodness all the way from Turkey though there are other countries that also claim stake to his sweet and melt in your mouth wonder.

Casava Beef Dish

Casava is a leafy vegetable used in many African dishes, I was introduced to this dish for the first time in Washington D.C by a friend who had this dish pegged as an absolute favorite. Casava root is also used in dishes made in Kerala but quite differently.

Imam Bayildi

Imam Bayildi literally translates to the ‘Imam fainted’ and has many Turkish folk stories revolving around the dish. This is one of the dishes that was simple enough for me to try at home and the results were delicious. The recipe calls for eggplant, tomato and a fair bit of oil. I used an oven for a healthier version of Imam Bayildi and have been dying to try my hand at it again.

Kabsa

By Basel15 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons — Kabsa- A simple rice and chicken recipe

Kabsa is a brilliant dish from the Middle East, it is actually a family of rice dishes that also includes biriyani. I tried my hand at making Kabsa once as all I had in the pantry was some rice, chicken and some spices. The final dish was an absolute hit, I did make some alterations to the recipe by adding grapes instead of dry fruits and roasting the chicken in the oven before adding it to the rice. This was one recipe for the books.

Philly Cheese Steak

See page for author [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons — Philly Cheesesteak

This is one dish that is a must every non vegetarian visiting Philadelphia. The best place for a cheese steak is Jim’s on South Street. It is dripping with cheese wiz, fried onions and steak that is cut up and wrapped in bread. It is a great meal that complements a night of partying on South Street.

Arros Con Pollo

Arros Con Pollo very simply means rice and chicken in Spanish. It is a Mexican dish that I absolutely adored and the best I have eaten yet is at a small restaurant that I used to frequent in Conshohocken, PA. They absolutely knew how is serve up some rice and chicken with all the accompaniments of a complete Mexican meal.

Churros

Churros is another Mexican recipe that has become quite popular in the western world. It is a a sweet fried snack that is typical of fairs and food stands in Mexico and the US. This deep fried dough covered with powdered sugar has its variations in India and China.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken crossed the Himalayas and entered the Indian palate a while back. This dish has its origins in the Sichuan regions and traditionally calls for the use of Sichuan pepper which has a numbing sensation to it in the recipe. Sichuan sauce is quite strong with a generous dose of red chilli in the preparation hence giving the Kung Pao Chicken its popularity.

Sichuan Eggplant with fish sauce

This was a dish that our guide in China recommended to us and it was a hit. She wrote it down for us so that we wouldn’t get our order wrong. It was yum and the realization that eggplant/brinjal could have so many delicious possibilities was affirmed.

Xiao Long Bao

Din Tai Fung is a chain of restaurants that have taken the simple dumpling and made it a work of art. The xioa long bao is a little parcel of surprise that is painstakingly perfected in the kitchen. This dumpling is filled with meat, vegetables and soup all packaged in one mouthful. A lesser known fact about dumplings was that it was a preferred food item on the old silk route in China.

Mofongo

I got acquainted with Mofongo on my trip to Puerto Rico. This dish is simply plantains, meat and vegetables. It is a power packed dish and quite unique in taste. If you are ever traveling to the Caribbean, you should definitely order one for the table.

Roti Prata

Roti Prata is Malaysian in origin and is closer to home (i.e India) in terms of taste. The dish is a thing flat bread or roti and it is served with a gravy made of coconut milk and spices.

Hainese Chicken Rice

I seem to have an affiliation towards combinations of chicken and rice but this was one dish that captured my imagination completely. It is quite easy to make as well and I have tried it out in my kitchen. This simple dish is made of poached chicken and rice cooked in chicken broth, ginger, sugar and pandan leaves.

Katong Laksa

Katong laksa is nothing but yumminess in a bowl! Laksa should be had at an authentic place as far as possible because the dish flirts with some strong flavors that needs to be balanced by a good chef. Laksa is a melange of different seafood, coconut milk, fish sauce, fish cakes, etc. Try a bowl of laksa at Holland Village Singapore if you ever plan to go there.

Kothu Paratha

Kothu Paratha is a very resourceful dish as it is a great way of making the previous nights chapatis and parathas taste amazing with a twist in the recipe. The first time I had this dish was in Sri Lanka, it was only later that I realized that kothu paratha is popular in Tamil Nadu as well. This dish was so prominent in Sri Lankan cuisine that even KFC in Sri Lanka had its own version.

Pad Thai

Pad thai is another great mixture of ingredients that leaves the tongue wanting for more. Pad thai is flat noodles, peanuts, lime, fish sauce and a couple of other amazing thai ingredients that catch up to make pad thai.

Sticky Rice with mango

This is a dessert that comes all the way from Thailand. The recipe is very simple like most thai recipes but it makes for amazing taste. The recipe calls for a specific type of rice to be cooked in milk and sugar and served with a slice of ripe mango. This recipe is perfect for Thailand as Thailand seems to enjoy mangoes throughout the year.

New York Cheese cake

I firmly believe that nothing can go wrong as long as you have cheese cake. Though I must admit that I was a cheese cake skeptic till I tasted the creamy richness of a New York cheese cake and I have been a convert ever since. I am told that it is an easy recipe with all the right ingredients and I might just whip up a cheese cake one of these days.

Irish Banana Bread pudding

This is a dish that I first made myself and the fell in love with. As opposed to the cheese cake which has some hard to find ingredients, Irish banana bread requires ingredients that you would find in you pantry everyday provided that you are a bread eating, banana munching and rum loving pirate. It also calls for some oven and baking action but it is completely worth the effort.

This is my round up of 20 Interesting International dishes that I have been acquainted with during my travels. These recipes are not Indian but for a look at Indian recipes go to Secret Indian Recipes. The lovely ladies there are also hosting a contest till 4th May, 2015 just before Mother’s Day. Click here if you would like to enter the contest and share your Indian recipes. The images used in this blog post are mostly from Wikimedia Commons and have been linked back to the original pages for author attribution. The images that are not linked are a property of Traveling Noodles.

Krabi Cooking

Thai food is simple and at the same time tantalizing to the senses, that’s why when the opportunity to do a crash course in Thai cooking came up we grabbed it. Hubby and me by now were acclimatized to Thailand and the smell of lemon grass that followed us everywhere. We came to know about a cooking class Smart Cook Krabi which had a one day course in Thai cooking followed by a tour of the local market. Thailand is tourist friendly and the competition is high so most activities aimed at tourists have pick up and drop facilities. The car from Smart cook picked us up from our hotel and took us to the class for a day of cooking, eating and lovely company. After alighting we realized that the lady who drove us was also our instructor. The location of the class was the long verandah of her home with a lovely garden beside it. Smart cook needs pre booking and they take small batches of 6-8 people.

We had signed up for a seven course cooking class, there were two options for each course. So us being smart and all we divided up the menu such that both of us made different items for each course. The class started with teaching us about the different unique ingredients in Thai cooking like galangal,basil leaves, lemon grass, chillies, tamarind, fish sauce, etc all required for the sweet, sour, spicy and salty taste that Thai cooking requires. We started with making red and green curry paste with a pestle and mortar . Red and green paste is used in the soups and curry and it moderates the spice levels in Thai food. There is a Thai folk saying which says ‘a man would know if a girl would make a good wife (read cook) by listening to the sound of the pestle on the mortar’. Tom Kha soup which was the first item I made was surprisingly easy as the ingredients and prep was already done and ready for us. We then took our soup bowls to the dining table and had soup and got to taste each others culinary prowess too. The next item on the cook and eat menu was spring rolls for starters with yummy tamarind sauce. After we wolfed down the spring rolls it was time for some salad with glass noodles.

The main course was green, red or yellow curry with rice which is my eternal favorite and since we are our own cooks we could add as much or as little of the spice. This course gave me a deep understanding of how little cooking time chicken and prawns actually needs because the Indian cook in me is prone to slathering anything non veg in spices and cooking it till the chicken would forget that it used to be chicken. We then got a taste of Thai fried rice and Pad Thai and I was in Thai heaven. I wanted to continue cooking but eating it was the problem. My cooking skills were decent but my stomach didn’t have the space for all this yumminess. Thankfully we didn’t have one sit down meal, it was staggered and we cooked and ate alternatively.

For dessert we had sticky rice and mango which was cooked in coconut milk, rice pudding and banana fritters with condensed milk. At this stage I wanted a take away box but I managed to finish it with some help from hubby. After all this eating and cooking we got some much needed exercise at the local market tour. At the market we got a whiff and feel of all these unique and wonderful ingredients some closer to home some not as much. There was basil, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, chillies, tamarind, fish, prawns, chicken,mango, galangal and water bugs all for the Thai culinary pursuit. It was a day well spent and I can claim to have learned Thai cooking with lovely class mates from Singapore and Australia.

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