Welcome back! This week I will be taking a look at Thai cuisine. Thai cuisine is extremely popular worldwide.

The first dish that I am going to look at is perhaps one of the most popular.  This dish is Guay teow. Guay teow is noodle soup. This particular type of soup can be made with chicken, pork, or beef. The dish is also made noodles, which are either rice noodles or egg noodles. Vendors also usually add wontons or meatballs to the broth. This dish is rarely made vegetarian-friendly. Commons condiments for the dish are sugar, dried chili peppers, lime juice, and fish sauce. This dish is commonly eaten as a good late-night snack but can be eaten at any time of day.

Som tam is a dish that comes from Isaan in Northeastern Thailand. Som tam is a spicy green papaya salad. This dish is also one of the most popular dishes in Thailand. A classic some tam usually consists of shredded green papaya, tomatoes, carrots, peanuts, dried shrimp, runner beans, palm sugar, tamarind pulp, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, and plenty of chilies. This dish is made using a mortar and pestle to amplify the flavours in the dish. This dish comes in a variety of styles, but I have listed the most common ingredients.

Pad phuk tong is a stir-fried pumpkin dish. This dish is one of the best vegetarian-friendly dishes in Thailand. This dish is often served with a plate of brown rice. It is a more difficult dish to find, but worth the search if you can find it.

As someone who is not a huge fan of spice, pad see eiw could be a good choice for me. This dish is often designed for those who cannot handle spicier dishes but want to expand from pad thai. This meal is a thick noodle dish. The dish is made with wide rice noodles that are stir-fried in thick dark soy sauce. The noodles are stir-fried with chicken, pork, or beef as well as either Chinese broccoli or cabbage. For those who want to add some spice, chili flakes and vinegar are good options to add.

Kai med ma muang is chicken with cashew nuts. This is a dish that I have tried at restaurants and absolutely loved. This dish is made with stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts, soy sauce, honey, onions, chilies, pepper, mushrooms, and basically any other vegetables the chef would like to add. This dish is very simple, but extremely delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

A common dessert dish in Thailand is kao niew ma muang. This is mango with sticky rice. This dish is made with sticky rice, fresh mango slices, and sweet condensed milk. This dish is always a crowd-pleaser and is something that I would love to try.

Thank you for reading through my blog! Next week, I will be discussing Greek cuisine.

(Kai med ma muang)                                                         (Kao niew ma muang)

Attributions:

“Cashew Chicken” by Amanda Westmont under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

“Sticky Rice w/ Mango” by Briana Zimmers under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/the-21-best-thai-dishes-in-thailand/

Photo by Lawrence Makoona on Unsplash

Welcome back! This week I have decided to look at Chinese cuisine. Chinese cuisine has a huge variety of dishes from sweet to bitter to spicy. I have cumulated a list of authentic Chinese dishes that are a must-try.

Something to satisfy your sweet tooth would be red bean bread. The beans this dish is made with are similar to a cinnamon flavour. The beans can either be placed on top of the bread or inside the bread as a filling. This dish comes in a variety of forms and is both sold on the street and in the supermarket.

Noodles come in a variety of forms in China. One form that I have never heard of before is salty beef noodles. These noodles are soaked in a salty beef sauce. The noodles are then eaten with chopsticks. This dish is a global favourite.

A very simple but delicious dish eaten in China is eggs and tomato. This dish is often eaten two to three times a week. The way I have interpreted this dish is that it is similar to an omelet. It is made by first scrambling eggs, then adding chunks of tomato to the skillet. Occasionally, salt and green vegetables are added as a way to get more flavour and colour in the dish.

One thing I have never thought of trying is donkey meat. This is apparently a type of meat that is eaten in China, which I never expected. The meat is a little tough, but worth the extra effort to eat it. There are a variety of different ways to eat donkey meat. It can be eaten as a burger, dipped in soy or vinegar sauce to add some extra flavour. The taste is so delicious that it is guaranteed a person will want to eat more.

A dish that is traditionally made for a special occasion like a birthday, a special person visiting, or Chinese New Year is Chinese dumplings. These dumplings are traditionally boiled but can be fried as well. There are a variety of different fillings that go into these dumplings. Some fillings are meat and vegetables. but the filling is not limited to these and also does not always include both. Sometimes the filling just includes vegetables. Once they are cooked, these dumplings are often dipped in vinegar.

A dish that is similar to Chinese dumplings is steamed stuffed bread. Steamed stuffed bread is just a larger version of the Chinese dumplings. Very similar to the dumplings this bread is often filled with meat and vegetables.

A common dish that I have heard of in Chinese cuisine but have never tried is feet and heads. A couple of common forms of feet are chicken feet and pigs’ feet. A couple of common forms of the head are fish heads and duck heads. These dishes are seen as a Chinese delicacy. During Chinese New Year, at least one of these dishes will be found on the dinner table.

Thank you for following my blog throughout these past few weeks! Next week, I will be discussing Thai cuisine.

(Red Bean Bread)                                                            (Chinese Dumplings)

Attributions:

“Red Bean Bun” by Choo Yut Shing under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

“Steamed Dumplings” by Victor Wong under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/7-authentic-chinese-dishes-every-american-should-try/

Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash

Welcome back! This week I have decided to look into Russian cuisine. Russian cuisine is rich in carbohydrates. Russian food is usually made with very simple ingredients but is also very comforting in the cold winter months and refreshing in the hot summer months.

One of the most traditional Russian foods internationally is Borscht. Borscht is a red beetroot soup. This soup often contains meat, potatoes, carrots, and tomato. However, there are many variations of this soup based on location that may contain other ingredients. Borscht is traditionally eaten with dill or sour cream. Borscht can also be eaten hot or cold, hence why it is a go-to dish for both winter and summer.

Another internationally recognized dish is Beef Stroganoff. This dish is made with finely sliced beef fillet, onions, and mushrooms. The ingredients are all sauteed in white wine and sour cream. This dish has a variety of origin stories, but they all place beef stroganoff being created in the 19th century. Similarly to borscht, beef stroganoff has a lot of varieties around the world depending on where a person is.

Solyanka soup is another warm soup dish to help keep someone warm in the winter. This soup is a combination of sweet and sour. This soup usually contains a mix of fresh and cured beef, pork, and occasionally chicken. These ingredients is what is believed to give solyanka its different taste. Some other ingredients commonly used include pickled cucumbers, capers, olives, tomatoes, onions, parsley, and dill.

Between countries/cultures there are some similarities between traditional foods. For example, Blini in Russia are very similar to French crepes. A significant difference between the two is that Blini is made with yeasted dough, which in exchange makes them lighter. Blini often contains a mix of sweet and savoury fillings. Some fillings include ground meat, egg salad, and sweet cottage cheese. The most well-known companions to Blini are caviar, sour cream, and honey. Russians even celebrate their love for these pancakes by having a pancake week called Maslenitsa held every year, where Russians can celebrate their love for pancakes.

Something new to me that I have never tried is cold soup. I have always envisioned soup being a warm, comforting dish and not a cold dish for a hot summer day. Okroshka is a traditional cold soup in Russia. This soup often contains boiled meat or bologna, radish, cucumbers, scallions, boiled potatoes and eggs, and is served with dill and sour cream. There are also meatless types of Okroshka that are popular in Russia. Okroshka is often served with kvass, which is a drink made from fermented bread. If Okroshla is not served with kvass, it is often served with kefir or mineral water.

The final dish that I will be discussing has managed to find its way into the heart of Russian cuisine. This dish is called Pelmeni. Pelmeni has been a dish in Russian cuisine for a very long time. This dish is essentially tiny dumplings that are usually stuffed with either lamb, pork, or beef or all three combined. What makes them so special is the thinness of the dough. This dish is very time consuming and is often cooked for special occasions. Pelmeni is always served with sour cream, and can be served with or without broth.

Thank you for reading my blog! Next week, I will be discussing Chinese cuisine.

(Solyanka Soup)                                                                     (Pelmeni)

Attributions:

“Soljanka Suppe mit geräuchertem Fleisch und Kräutern, in einer weißen Schale, im rustikalen Setting mit Baumstamm und Leinentuch” by Marco Verch is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“pelmeni” by stu_spivack is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/15-traditional-meals-that-remind-russians-of-home/

Photo by Michael Parulava on Unsplash