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).
According to one reviewer on TripAdvisor, Warokuya Restaurant allegedly has a sign saying that if you’ve ever tasted better fried chicken, then the owner will close down. Challenge accepted!
A steady flow of seafood and activity is what you can expect on Vinh Khanh Street in District 4. Known for serving the best street seafood in Saigon, this was easily my favorite dining experience in our two weeks in Vietnam.
Banh mi dates from the French colonial period and is perhaps one of the original fusion foods of Vietnam. It literally means ‘wheat cake’ but it’s now come to mean a type of sandwich – with an extensive range of ingredients from both Vietnamese and French cuisine.
Open since 1866, Yossou is credited as being the very first chawanmushi specialty restaurant in Japan. They make their signature chawanmushi with nine specific ingredients – white fish, chicken, shiitake mushrooms, kikurage mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginkgo, kamaboko (fish paste), wheat powder, and anago (grilled conger eel).
Nagasaki’s diverse cuisine is regarded as one of the most unique in Japan. It offers plenty of interesting dishes, perhaps none more famous than this Chinese-Japanese noodle soup called champon.