4 Foods To Try In Southeast Asia

Asian Food (Photo: Kimba's Kitchen)
Southeast Asia is one of the most exciting destinations you can travel to - delight your senses and make sure you try the following foods while you’re there!

Travelling through Southeast Asia is a treat for the senses. Not only can you experience incredible scenery, cultures and history, but also you can immerse yourself in a completely different world. In a blur of Vietnam hotels, Thai elephant tours and trips into the jungle in Myanmar, one thing that will stay with you long after you leave is the memory of the delectable food you’ll be able to try while you’re there. Just so you don’t miss out, I’ve taken the liberty of listing the top four foods you absolutely HAVE to try in Southeast Asia. Bon Apetit!


Pad Thai
Pad Thai (Photo: Robyn Lee)
If your only experience of the tantalizingly delicious world of Pad Thai comes in a plastic container from your local takeaway, you’re in for a treat. Watch as street vendors whip up the best, most fragrant, spicy and delicate noodle dish right in front of your eyes, and you’ll never come back to your local Thai restaurant again. The trick is the way they crack the egg in the wok to coat the noodles…perfection!

Phô
Pho
Phô is the national dish of Vietnam and consists of rice-noodles in a clear, fragrant broth. The soup has thinly-sliced pieces of meat of vegetables depending on taste, which are cooked by the heat of the soup. Usually it is flavoured by Vietnamese basil, chili and bean sprouts to taste, and it is one of the freshest, most flavourful things you can taste—perfect after a long day of sightseeing!

Chili Mud Crab
Chili Mud Crab
This famous Singaporean dish is famous the world over, but there is no better place to taste it than in the city of its origin. A mud crab is usually quartered, doused in herbs and a healthy amount of chili (remember to ask for a mild version if you’re not good with spicy things—the Singaporeans like theirs HOT) and simmered until the meat inside is fragrant and silky. It is usually served with generous helpings of crusty bread for dipping up the remaining sauce. Have it with an ice-cold beer to take some of the spice away. Delicious!

Durian
Durian fruit (photo: flickr user Wenzday01)
This Malaysian fruit is quite the conundrum. Its smell has been described as having the aroma of dirty feet, gasoline, death and manure, among other things, but the sweet fruit inside is so good that people brave the stench each day to get into the middle of it. It’s perplexing to the human physiology to eat something that smells so vile and yet tastes so good, but trust me—if you block your nose for the first part (or better yet, have someone else peel it for you) the fruit is worth the pain. Many hotels in Malaysia make an irresistible cocktail from the fruit of the Durian, which is well worth a taste and comes with the added bonus of you not having to smell the skin!
Durian Fruit Cocktail
Food in Southeast Asia is one of the best ways to soak up the culture - make sure you try as much of it as possible while you’re there!

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