Month: January 2023

1.

“Machaca. It’s a dish from northern Mexico that is scrambled eggs with carne seca (think: super thin, dried out, but incredibly flavorful jerky without all the extra seasonings), chopped tomato, and onion.”

2.

“For Filipino cuisine, the must-try is lumpia — basically an egg roll filled with pork. “It’s so darn tasty I can (and actually have) hurt myself by overindulging!”

3.

“For Indian cuisine, you’ve got to try chaat, which is basically any savory street food. Pani puri specifically is my favorite: it’s fried and puffed dough balls that are hollowed out and filled with mashed potato or chickpeas, flavored water, and spices.”

4.

“Shish Barak, a Lebanese dish made of little fried dumplings (about the size of a quarter) that are stuffed with spiced meat and pine nuts. They’re served in a yogurt sauce with garlic, cilantro, and mint.”

5.

“Fesenjan. It’s a Persian stew typically made with chicken in a pomegranate and walnut sauce. It’s a very interesting combination of flavors because it’s lightly sweet, tangy, and savory all at once.”

6.

“From Brazil, complete feijoada. It’s smokey black bean stew, fluffy white rice, sautéed kale, farofa (toasted cassava flour for soaking up any excess), vinaigrette, tomato and onion salad, and orange slices. For the full experience, you’ll want to pair it with a Caipirinha and some samba music.”

7.

“Jianbing is a Chinese street food breakfast everyone needs to know about. You can find this dish at many street food stalls. It’s a very thin crepe stuffed with your choice of delicious fillings. It’s folded around a sheet of crispy-fried wontons and lettuce so you can hold it and eat as you walk, so it’s great for a meal on the go.”

8.

“Irish soda bread. My relatives only make it around St. Patrick’s day and easter, but IMO it’s so good any time, especially served warm with butter.”

9.

“Kaiserschmarrn is an Austrian breakfast, made with sweet and fluffy scrambled pancake served with rum-soaked raisins. It’s hard to imagine until you’ve tried it, but it’s so good.”

10.

“I’m from Kenya, and my favorite dish is ugali, which is a dough-like cornmeal porridge that you eat by pinching a piece off, rolling it into a ball, then using it to scoop up the other foods you’re eating with it like spiced rice or sukuma wiki (collard greens).”

11.

“Chicken rice is a staple in Singapore and a dish that best represents our cuisine. You can choose from steamed or roasted chicken served over fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth. The highlight of the dish though is the sweet soy sauce and chili-garlic-lime sauce.”

12.

“I’m Latvian, and I would say piragi is the must-try dish. They are warm rolls stuffed with ham, bacon, onion, and black pepper. They are very labor intensive to make but so delicious.”

13.

“Banh Xeo is one of the best Vietnamese dishes everyone should try. It’s a crispy French-inspired crepe made with turmeric and green onions and it’s stuffed with crispy pork belly, shrimp, and bean sprouts.”

14.

“My favorite Indian dish is saag paneer, creamy spiced mixed greens served with chunks of paneer cheese. It’s good, especially with hot fluffy puri for sopping it up.”

15.

“There are so many great Indonesian dishes, but nasi goreng is the crown jewel. It’s our version of fried rice made with meat, vegetables, and a fried egg. It’s flavored with kecap manis, sweet soy sauce, and terasia, an Indonesian shrimp paste.”

16.

“For Cuban cuisine, it’s Ropa Vieja, a dish of thinly shredded flank steak simmered in a rich and flavorful sauce of tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and spices. Being able to make this single dish well is pretty much what separates a good Cuban cook from a mediocre one. It’s the national dish of Cuba for a reason.”

17.

“My favorite Taiwanese dish is Lu Rou Fan. Nothing can beat this slow-braised, tender pork belly in a rich and fragrant sauce. It’s served over fluffy white rice with a tea egg. Its a common comfort food and a street food dish in Taiwan, but sadly it’s not well known in the western world.”

18.

“One Mexican dish others don’t often know about is albóndigas soup. It’s a beef and rice meatball soup in chicken broth, loaded with a variety of vegetables like carrots, potato, and zucchini. It was my go-to comfort food as a kid paired with warm, fresh tortillas.”

19.

“Vospov Kleyma. It’s an underrated Armenian dish made of red lentils and bulghur with sautéed onions. You form the mixture into patties and top them with parsley and Aleppo pepper. It’s perfect on lavash or any kind of bread with garlic sauce or red pepper paste.”

20.

“Drawing from my Yugoslav heritage, I’d say to try gibanica. It’s essentially a Baltic cheese pie made with Filo pastry, eggs, cottage cheese, ricotta, and sour cream. It’s wildly delicious.”

21.

“From Puerto Rican cuisine, my favorite dish is mofongo. It’s basically mashed up fried plantains mixed with garlic and other deliciousness.”

22.

“From Singapore, my pick would be black pepper crab. Most tourists and foreigners have heard of chili crab, a cousin to this local delicacy, but locals generally prefer the black pepper variety. It’s made with a ton of butter (so what could be bad?) and it’s spicy, savory, with a hint of sweetness.”

23.

“Egyptian Koshari. It’s a very tasty mixture of spaghetti, white rice, macaroni, black lentils, fried onions, and flavorful sauces, it tastes absolutely incredible and best of all, it’s incredibly cheap.”

24.

“Hojaldre is a Panamanian food more people need to know. It’s an egg and flour-based dough, which is typically left overnight to rise. Then in the morning it’s fresh and topped with anything from cheese to eggs. It makes for the best snack, and you can make a big batch and leave it on the stove-top to eat throughout the day.”

25.

“When it comes to Dutch cooking, you’ve got to try snert. It’s our version of split pea soup. It’s very thick and packed with ingredients like carrots, celeriac, bacon, and smoked sausage. It’s perfect for cold, winter nights.”

26.

“Rigatoni alla Bolognese is the one Italian dish I couldn’t live without. The traditional version includes diced vegetables, ground meat, anchovies, white wine, herbs, and tomatoes. My grandmother would always make it on Sundays and now I continue that tradition.”

27.

“For German cuisine you really have to try currywurst, which is sausage with a hot tomato curry sauce. The quality can vary a ton, but the best kind uses high-quality sausage and homemade curry sauce.”

28.

“I’m Native American, and the one dish you have to try from my culture is fry bread, which is basically deep-fried flat dough. I personally like mine with cinnamon and a bit of butter, but lots of people eat it with taco toppings. It’s so bad for you, but it’s oh-so delicious.”

29.

“Sarma, which is a fairly common Slavic recipe. It’s always some kind of minced meat with diced veggies that’s wrapped in cabbage and simmered for about two hours in a spiced tomato sauce.”

30.

“Tadig is an Iranian dish that literally translates to ‘bottom of the pan.’ It’s essentially a large disk of crunchy, golden fried basmati rice. It tastes like heaven for rice lovers.”

31.

“Ochazuke. It’s a Japanese one-bowl dish that is basically a creative way to use up what’s in your kitchen. It’s just green tea, rice and furikake, plus whatever scraps are leftover from yesterday’s meal (salmon, katsu, etc).”

32.

“As a European Jew, a highlight of my culture is babka. It’s a fluffy, moist dessert cake with sweet dough and either apple cinnamon or chocolate filling. It’s fudgy goodness that’s delicious enough to make our thousands of years of exile hurt a little less.”

33.

“I’m from Trinidad, and I wish more people knew about roti and curry chicken. You use the roti to sop up all the saucy chicken. It’s simple, filling, and sooo satisfying.”

34.

“Varenyky! They are Ukrainian dumplings that are similar to pierogi. They can be filled with potato, cabbage, mushrooms, cottage cheese, cherry jam, or really whatever you like. The Polish fry them, but we Ukranians boil them. I could live solely on this dish.”