4 Must-Try Asian Dishes
Highly praised Asian dishes that aren’t well known
It has been almost three years since I came to California for college. I was amazed by the diverse food culture here as I’ve been trying all kinds of cuisine that originated from different parts of the world. When talking about Asian foods that are popular in the States, I would think of hotpot, Dim Sum, Korean tofu soup, Ramen, and Thai noodles such as Pad Thai. These dishes traveled across the ocean and brought us so many unique flavors and spices. Yet many more delicious dishes aren’t very well known here but are highly praised in Asia.
卤肉饭 Lo Bah Png (Braised pork on rice)
Lo Bah Png is a very classic dish commonly seen throughout Taiwan and Southern Fujian. The story of its origin was that in the Qing Dynasty many people lived in poverty and couldn’t afford pork. So the butcher braised leftover bits and pieces of pork with soy sauce and gave it out to those people.
Made with pork belly, shitake mushroom, and fried shallot, Lo bah png is soy sauce flavored, and multiple spices — star anise, bay leaf, green onion — are added along with rice wine. A boiled egg will often be braised with the pork as well so that the egg will have a rich taste of the gravy. I cook Lo Bah Png quite often, and it is a very satisfying dish to cook and to enjoy. Both shitake mushroom and fried shallot have an ambrosial aroma, which further enhances the taste of the pork belly.
片儿川 Pian Er Chuan (Noodles with pork and preserved vegetable)
I’ve seen quite a lot of Southern and Central Chinese food in the States, but not really the Eastern Chinese cuisine. Pian Er Chuan is one of the dishes from my hometown Hangzhou. To the south of River Yangtze and near the coast, the cuisine of Hangzhou and near this region is known for using fresh ingredients from mountains, lakes, and rivers. Instead of cooking with strong spice, pepper, and condiments, the cuisine in this region is more delicate and aimed at accentuating the fresh and tasty flavor of the ingredients. Pian Er Chuan is a noodle soup made with noodles, spring shoots, pickled mustard, lean pork, mushrooms, and green onion. The ingredients look simple, but with pickled mustard, the inherent freshness of spring shoots and mushrooms will stick out and will bring the taste to another level.
Pian Er Chuan is a very prevalent dish in Hangzhou. Every time I go back home, I always go to a small, a bit shabby, but time-honored noodle house for a bowl of Pian Er Chuan. In that bowl, I could recall so many precious memories that I had with my friends, my family, and Hangzhou.
ปูผัดผงกะหรี่ (Curry crab)
I tried curry crab for the first time when I was traveling in Thailand with my friends. Before the trip, I had heard the reputation of curry crab already, and indeed it didn’t let me down.
The restaurant I went to is called The Original Fried Curry Crab, and the dish itself looked so golden and whetted my appetite. Even though curry has a quite strong flavor and smell, I could still taste the sweetness and the freshness of the crab. Rice is a perfect accompaniment with the curry. The subtle sweetness of rice went so well with curry. It is absolutely one of my favorite Thai dishes.
보쌈 Bossam (Boiled pork shoulder wraps)
Bossam is a Korean pork dish, in which pork shoulder is boiled and sliced, and then served with various side dishes and ssam vegetables. Side dishes may include kimchi, pickled radish, garlic; ssam vegetables could be lettuce, perilla leaves, cabbage, etc. To enjoy Bossam, people use a piece of ssam vegetable to wrap a slice of pork along with any sauce or side dishes of choice, and then they can cram their mouths full of the wrap.
In Korea, there is a tradition called gimjang at the beginning of the winter, when families make kimchi for the next year. At the end of this labor-intensive process, they will celebrate with a Bossam feast*. Although you may now have Bossam any time of the year, it’s still a dish great for families and friends gathering together to make the wraps and chat.
There’s a famous saying in Chinese — “一方水土养一方人,” meaning that the unique features of a local environment give special characteristics to its inhabitants**. In my eyes, the food or the cuisine of one place epitomizes this relationship between nature and its residents. Growing up in an eastern coastal city in China, I’m deeply in love with the dishes there as well as in other Asian cities nearby. Asian food to me is not only about enjoyable taste and nostalgia but more of a lifestyle and life attitude.
