Why the Love for Asian Street Food is Trending Nowadays?

Asia’s street food scene is very diverse with a long history associated with it. The modern-day human civilisation was built through life around urban areas. The growing urbanization across the world has necessitated the availability of ready-made meals in proximity. Street food is the best choice in such cases as it could cater to a wide diversity of people.

Historically, the concept of street food might have originated in ancient Greece. The remnants of Pompeii excavations have pointed out this fact. Coming to the Asian continent, In ancient China, a form of street food was prevalent as a charity, in the form of food offered to the poor in the street by the rich residents in the town. Later, during the Tang dynasty (618-907CE), street food began to evolve into a food culture with distinct characteristics.

Below, in this article, we will see the street food scenario of several Asian countries and will also discuss some of the popular street food dishes that are popular in these countries.

China

In present-day China, street food is being served within restaurant-like stalls, as the authorities have prompted them to move from the temporary settlements at the roadsides and pavements, citing safety reasons. The nostalgic charm of eating at the roadside has lost to this regulation, however, it hasn’t much affected the Chinese street food menu.

In China, a variety of Chinese pancakes are quite popular as a street food. A street food dish made using the Chinese ‘bing’ pancakes are extensively popular because they are often topped up using eggs. Known as ‘Jianbing’, these Chinese egg wrap pancakes are delicious, and are one of the most popular breakfast street food in China. Jianbing egg pancakes are often compared to French crepes and Indian rotis because of its appearance like flatbread.

Jianbing egg pancakes are widely popular all through China and even in Western countries as breakfast street food. They are not pre-cooked, customer have to line up giving sufficient time to the street-food vendors to cook the pancake in front of them.

Another popular Chinese street food dish is a kind of snack called ‘xiaochi’. Xiaochi is not the name of a specific snack, but it is the general name given to a category of Chinese street food snacks. Xiaochi snacks are often served in combination with other main dishes like tapas.

South Korea

In the South Korean street food culture, the most influential dish is the Korean rice cake called ‘tteokbokki’. Tteokkbokki is a spicy stir-fried rice cake variety which is sometimes spelled as ‘topokki’, or ‘tteokk-bokki’.To know more about, read this article about Korean street food stalls and tteokbokki dishes.

In present-day South Korea, the street food lovers mostly prefer a variety of egg toast (egg sandwich), which is known as ‘Gilgeori toast’. ‘Gilgeori’ can be simply translated as ‘street toast’, and it is notable for its sweet and salty egg flavour. Although Gilgeori is in existence for a long time, the love for this traditional egg toast is trending now in the Korean street food stalls.

Although street food stalls are prevalent in almost all cities and markets in Korea, some cities like Busan, Myeongdong, Hongdae, etc are known for their dedicated street food markets. The popularity of street food stalls of Myeongdong is so widespread even outside the country that the foreigners visiting Korea often go to Myeongdong in search of quality ethnic street food.

Cheese Hotteok is another much-desired Korean street food dish as per the current trend. Hotteok is a type of pancake with fillings inside. Traditionally Korean hotteoks are like pan-fried patties with a sweet filling made using a mixture of brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts, and cinnamon. Cheese hotteok is a variety of the regular hotteoks which has the filling mostly made up of mozzarella cheese. They finally come pan-fried with dark-reddish colour, and devoured by the hungry customers with great satisfaction.

Another South Korean street food is corn dog, which is almost like a sausage. It is a thick roll of pan-fried cornmeal batter, with a stick as a handle. A variety of the South Korean corn dog (which are often mistakenly called ‘hot dogs’) called ‘Kogo’ has hardened exterior crusts made using French fries.

Korean street food stalls have another dish called ‘Eomuk’ which has been well-known in the past as well as in the present. Eomuk is a variety of Korean fish cake. Eomuk is prepared using surimi (fish paste), wheat flour, carrots, onion, salt, sugar and other additives. Eomuk was first started in the Korean street food menu influenced by Japanese food culture, and it was initially called ‘Odeng’. Nowadays, Eomuk is the mostly accepted term to denote the Korean fish cake.

Thailand

In Thailand also, street food culture is very popular. Many noodle recipes are adopted into the street food stalls. Thailand’s signature flavour Pad Thai noodles have been sold in humongous quantity to street food devotees.  Tom yum soups, Thai fried rice called ‘khao phat’ are some other dishes widely available in Thai street food shops.

India

In India, street food is part of the urban life. Every city has street food stalls, or movable small cabins which are attached to a wheeled carriage. The dishes change as we move from states to states. However, the savoury snack food called ‘chaat’ is widely popular in some of the North Indian states. Chaat is originated in the state of Uttar Pradesh. There are a number of chaat versions available, but the original one is a mixture of potato, fried bread, chickpeas and spicy seasoning, served with a sauce made of chili, dried ginger and tamarind mix. Also, fresh green coriander leaves and yogurt are used as a garnish.

Another popular snack is ‘vada pav’ which is mostly seen in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai). Vada Pav basically is a seasoned deep-fried batter mix made of mashed potato.  Similarly, Pani puri is another street food snack mostly served in the urban areas of Delhi and Punjab regions. However, pani puri is also served in different other states, but the name is different in different states. Pani puri made up of a ball-shaped deep-fried crisp flatbread, filled with tamarind mix, chili powder, chaat masala, potato mash, onion and chickpeas.

However, in the Southern India, the street food menu differs extensively from the North Indian dishes. Common south Indian food dishes like dosa, appam, parotta, chilli paratha, kothu paratha, vada, chappati, idiyappam are the main dishes served as part of south Indian street food.

Japan

As per the Japanese custom, food is not eaten in the streets. So, even though food stalls exist in the Japanese streets, customers often buy food as takeaways and bring it to their homes. The most popular Japanese street food is Takoyaki. Takoyaki is Japanese style cooked octopus meat, filled in ball-shaped fried batter. The octopus filling is seasoned with onions, ginger, and tempura batter mix. The balls are finally cooked in specially designed iron pans.

Vietnam

The traditional Vietnamese soup dish called ‘pho’ is sold as a prominent item on the Vietnamese street food menu. Vietnamese pho is the country’s national dish, of which a variant was in existence since very old times. The current day pho has evolved after taking a number of inspirations from different culinary styles including the French cuisine as well.  Pho is generally composed of meat, rice noodles, broth, and herbs.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, hawkers usually sell street food in moving carts or similar wheeled vehicles. Malay-influenced nasi goreng, satay chicken, etc are usual dishes in the Indonesian street food menu. Apart from this, Chinese-influenced Indonesian dishes are also found in great measure. Steamed buns, noodles, meatballs are examples for Chinese influence in Indonesian streets.

A large percentage of Indonesian street food industry is based in the capital city Jakarta. Comparing to previous years, the current street food scenario is healthier as they have imposed some measures to avoid the deep-frying technique, which is considered to be unhealthy.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, street food culture is very prevalent, especially a native form of egg waffle is avariciously consumed at the Hong Kong street food carts. Although waffle is generally thought to be of Western origin, this variety of egg waffle is originated in Hong Kong itself. The HK egg waffle is prepared by stirring a pulp made of eggs, sugar and flour, and then baking it until it turns golden in colour. This street food dish is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. This dish is called ‘gai daan jai’ in Cantonese meaning ‘little chicken egg’.

Although, sometimes uncleanliness and unhygienic surroundings are pointed out as the disadvantages of street food culture in Asia, studies have many times found otherwise. As per several global studies conducted assessing the food served on the streets, the quality of street food is on par with restaurant food, and sometimes found as of higher standard. Governments often take specific measures on street food industry, which also affects the quality of street food in a positive manner. Currently, it is somewhat perceived that the cuisine of street food in each country is being gradually developed into a subsidiary of the country’s national cuisine, and in the future, it can go well beyond that.