Ethnic Food to Try - Part 2

Published January 25th, 2008

As mentioned in previous articles such as Food Around the World and Ethnic Foods to Try -Part 1, here is another installment of popular foods for first-timers to try from around the world. Today I offer up 5 more suggestions you can try in your city or on your next trip. I realize that the information in this article and its relevance may depend on where in the world you live, but it is an attempt at a general overview of things that we can try to broaden our food horizons.

Pad Thai from Thailand

This is a popular noodle dish both in Thailand, and in North America–that can even be eaten as a whole meal. Cooked rice noodles are pan fried with a varying combination of bean sprouts, chicken, shrimp, and tofu. The sauce can be made of fish sauce, chili, and tamarind juice in a delightful combination. It is often topped with chopped peanuts +/- coriander and served with lime. This dish varies greatly in its ingredients depending on where it’s made. In North America, everything is tossed together with a heavier red sweet sauce where as in Thailand it is a much lighter dish with no heavy sauce.

Butter Chicken From India

This is a wonderful dish for both Indian food veterans and those new to Indian cuisine. There is great regional variation in the way this dish is prepared. The chicken is marinated with yogurt and mild spices, then cooked in a rich sauce whose base is made of butter and crushed tomato, and sometimes cream. This dish can be served with a variety of Indian breads such as naan or whole wheat chapati, or with rice, and can be garnished with cilantro. A lot of people prefer a butter chicken that is savoury rather than sweet, so it might be good idea to ask how they prepare it before you order depending on your preference. Another similar dish you may want to try is Tikka chicken.

Souvlaki from Greece

This is a popular street food from Greece. It consists of well marinated pork or chicken grilled on a wooden skewer +/- vegetables. Some of the spices often used to marinate the meat are garlic, lemon, oregano and thyme. It can be eaten right off the stick, in a pita, or as part of a whole meal with potatoes, rice pilaf, and/or salad vegetables. There are many variations in the meats used in Souvlaki as are the presentations. In some places fish or lamb can be used as the meat. When served in a lightly grilled pita red onion, tomato and delicious cucumber and yogurt Tzatziki sauce are common toppings. Souvlaki is a very versatile dish, similar to other skewered grilled meat dishes from around the world, so this is a great one to try as it might be familiar to what you know.

Enchiladas

Mexican food is very popular in some parts of the world, especially in some parts of the Southern United States where they have made there own variation on the theme of Mexican cooking. One of my favourite and most versatile dishes are enchiladas. They are technically simple to make, but can be a bit time consuming to make from scratch, so I recommend trying them at a restaurant first. They are traditionally made of a corn tortilla lightly fried and dipped in either a red chili enchilada sauce or green enchilada sauce made of tomatillos. Then a filling of any marinated meat, bean, or cheese filling can be rolled in to the middle of it. They are then topped with enchilada sauce +/- cheese and placed in the oven to heat through. The use of cream and sour cream on them is more of a later addition from the European and North Americans, and can add more flavour to this already delicious dish. If you want to make this dish at home, canned enchilada sauces can often be found in grocery stores now.

Dim Sum from China

This refers to a light meal served with tea. Tradition dim sum dishes were steamed, but nowadays, many different preparations can be found. A common dim sum service in a restaurant setting would involve many choices of small portions or servings of different dishes such has steamed dumplings, buns, or dessert. Some restaurants will give you a large menu to chose from, and others will simply push around carts with several options. You get to try a little bit of everything. It is a great way to try new things in small quantities, and is a very different type of eating experience for those that are used to loading up their plate full of food and digging in. It is best to go to a restaurant that serves Dim Sum with a bilingual menu, or waitstaff that also speak your primary language so that you can ask what is in each dish before picking it.

I hope that this article has given you some more ideas to try. In my next article I will focus a bit more on cooking tips for bringing international cuisine into your home–we will start small with a guide to some spices and oils that you can try. Until then…..happy eating!

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