Stinky tofu, Southeast Asia

       Stinky tofu or chou doufu is a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odour. It is a snack that is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands or as a side dish in lunch bars rather than in restaurants.

    In Hong Kong, stinky tofu is a street food. It is deep fried fresh at hawkers' stalls and at dai pai dongs and sold by the bag. Hong Kong-style stinky tofu is traditionally eaten with hoisin sauce. Unlike the diversity of stinky tofu in Taiwan, in Hong Kong it is usually deep fried. Rather than eating deep fried stinky tofu with pickled vegetables, Hongkongers usually enjoy deep fried stinky tofu with sweet sauce and chili sauce.

Buttered toast with Marmite, Britain

   

Tacos, Mexico

    The taco predates the arrival of Europeans in Mexico. There is anthropological evidence that the indigenous people living in the lake region of the Valley of Mexico traditionally ate tacos filled with small fish. Writing at the time of the Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented the first taco feast enjoyed by Europeans, a meal which Hernán Cortés arranged for his captains in Coyoacán.It is not clear why the Spanish used their word, "taco", to describe this indigenous food.     

    A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety. A taco is generally eaten without utensils and is often accompanied by garnishes such as salsa, avocado or guacamole, cilantro (coriander), tomatoes,minced meat, onions and lettuce.

Chicken rice, Singapore

         When you see succulent cooked chicken hanging neatly in a row at a food stall, you are looking at one of Singapore’s national dishes - Hainanese Chicken Rice.

A ubiquitous sight in hawker centers across the country, it is also on the menu in many major restaurants and even hotel cafes. All offer the same dish at varying prices: bite-sized chicken pieces – or a whole chicken if you’re eating as a big group - served with fragrant rice and a spicy chilli and ginger paste.

The recipe for the dish is adapted from early Chinese immigrants from Hainan Island, off the southern coast of China. Back in Hainan, locals call the dish "Wenchang chicken". They use a particular fowl that is bony and fibrous, and serve the chicken with oily rice. A ground green chilli dip rounds off the dish.

Som tam, Thailand

        The most Popular Thai foods that you will know a fame name of Som -Tam -Thai or you can called papaya salad, a good delicious foods is sweet sour and spicy mix in a dishes for serve with veggie, when you taste Som Tam after you will hear a pronounce to a signal for really yammy that is called“Zap” for Isan. This Som Tam Thai is much popular for foreigners known as well from Thailand foods. Som Tam Thai was become a national menu already.

        The words "Papaya Salad" is a dialect of the word "orange" but not orange, meaning "sour taste of doing that" Tam ",The sound it makes is "pok pok", someone call Tam Papaya Pok Pok ,whenever people hear that sound while walking pas s a shop at the street always feeling hungry and always turnaround to look for the Som Tam.

Som Tam is a verb means to be crushed by a specific device called a" coarse word "Papaya Salad" is defined. And sour foods through pounding, really yummy and famous in the Top of Thai foods, can eat and low fat in any locate of Thailand love it.

              Papaya Salad classified as food by the same group as salad vegetables and fruit mixed together, then mix together with a pounding often use raw papaya in a mortar to pound the dried tomatoes, roasted peanuts, chili, garlic and lime juice. These are all pounded together in a mortar using a pestle, then take a verity seasoned with fish sauce, palm sugar, lime on sour and spicy. Actually Som Tam Thai is general popular resistance coupled with sticky rice and grilled chicken with cabbage or string bean. A side of this is so hot spicy when you eat that you will want water so much and that a good smell when you wait for Som Tam, another sort of taste have more good savory to find here, you can know much a kind of Som Tam like Tam Lao, Tam Pa, Tam Hoey Dong, Tam Puma, Tam Seow (Mix noodle).

How to you can see Som Tam, this is so easily because of you can see any shop or restaurant until 5 star hotel, but if in market or small foods shop just a 30 Thai baht or $1, really interesting to come in Thailand.

Seafood paella, Spain

Paella  is a Valencian rice dish with ancient roots that originated in its modern form in the mid-nineteenth century near Albufera lagoon, a coastal lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. The dish is widely regarded as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish; Valencians regard paella as one of their identifying symbols. Spanish food historian Lourdes March notes that the dish "symbolizes the union and heritage of two important cultures, the Roman, which gives us the utensil and the Arab which brought us the basic food of humanity for centuries.

The three best known types of paella are Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco), and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well. Valencian paella is believed to be the original recipe and consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (chicken and rabbit), land snails, beans and seasoning such as saffron, rosemary and occasionally lemon. Optional ingredients include artichoke, pepper and chicken liver. Seafood paella replaces meats with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of land animals, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans. Most paella chefs use calasparra or bomba  rices. All types of paellas use olive oil.

Potato chips, United States

A potato chip is a thin slice of potato that has been deep fried or baked until crunchy. Potato chips are commonly served as an appetizer, side dish, or snack.

"Crisps", however, may also refer to many different types of savory snack products sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland, some made from potato, but some made from corn, tapioca or other cereals, just as there are other varieties of chips in the United States.

Potato chips are a predominant part of the snack food market in Western countries. The global potato chip market generated total revenues of US$16.49 billion in 2005. This accounted for 35.5% of the total savory snacks market in that year ($46.1 billion).

Masala dosa, India

History

Dosa is indigenous to South India; its exact birthplace in that region is a matter of conjecture. According to food historian K. T. Achaya, dosa (as dosai) was already in use in ancient Tamil country around the 1st century AD, as per references in the Sangam literature. According to P. Thankappan Nair, dosa originated in the Udupi town of present-day Karnataka.

In popular tradition, the origin of dosa is linked to Udupi, probably because of the dish's association with the Udupi restaurants. Also, the original Tamil dosa was softer and thicker. The thinner and crispier version of dosa, which became popular all over India, was first made in present-day Karnataka.

Nutrition

Preparation Dosa, a common breakfast dish and street food, is rich in carbohydrates, and contains no sugar or saturated fats. As its constituent ingredients are rice and Urad Dal (Vigna mungo), it is gluten-free and becomes a complete protein.

 The fermentation process increases the vitamin B and vitamin C content. There are also instant mix products for making dosa, with somewhat lower nutritional benefits.A mixture of rice and urad dal (ulundu) that has been soaked in water is ground finely to form a batter. The proportion of rice to lentils is basically 4:1 or 5:1. 

The batter is allowed to ferment overnight. After the overnight fermentation, batter is mixed with water to get the desired thickness. the batter is then ladled onto a hot tava (griddle) greased with oil or ghee (clarified butter). It is spread out evenly with the base of a ladle or bowl to form a pancake. A dosa is served hot, either folded in half or rolled like a wrap. It is also served usually with chutney and sambar. The mixture of urad dal and rice can be replaced with highly refined wheat flour or semolina.

• 

  Rice batter
     
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  Batter poured on a tavagriddle
     
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  Batter being spread uniformly
    

Serving

Dosa can be stuffed with fillings of vegetables and sauces to make a quick meal. They are typically served with a vegetarian side dish which varies according to regional and personal preferences. Common side items are:

• Sambar

• Wet chutney: examples include coconut chutney (a semisolid paste made up of coconut, dal (lentils), green chilli and mint or coriander)

• Dry chutney (podi or molagapodi): a powder of spices and sometimes desiccated coconut

• Indian pickles

Corn -- the workhorse of the industrial world -- is best when its sweet variety is fried up with lashings of butter till it bursts and then snarfed in greasy fistfuls while watching “Commando” late at night.

Mouth-Watering Facts About . . .

Popcorn

Americans eat around 17 billion quarts of popcorn every year. This amount would fill the Empire State Building 18 times.d Nebraska produces an estimated 250 million pounds of popcorn per year—more than any other state. This is equivalent to a quarter of all the popcorn the United States produces every year.d Popcorn is the official snack of Illinois. Since 1958, there has been an annual “Popcorn Day.”d Popcorn is a healthy snack for diabetics Both the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association say that popcorn can be exchanged for bread for people on weight control diets.d Unpopped popcorn should not be stored in the refrigerator. The refrigerator will dry out the moisture in the kernels. Without the moisture, popcorn will not pop. The ideal place to store popcorn is in a cool, dry cupboard.c Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air.b Popcorn has more protein than any other cereal grain. It also has more iron than eggs or roast beef. It has more fiber than pretzels or potato chips.d The world’s largest popcorn ball was 12 feet in diameter and weighed 5,000 pounds. It required 2,000 pounds of corn, 40,000 pounds of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water.d Two tablespoons of unpopped kernels produce a quart of popcorn for about 25 cents.b There are about 1,600 popcorn kernels in 1 cup.b Theaters usually sell snowflake-shaped popcorn Popped popcorn comes in two shapes: “snowflake” or “mushroom.” Because “snowflake” shaped popcorn is bigger, movie theaters typically sell that shape.d Orville Redenbacher is the #1 best-selling popcorn in the world. Its inventor, Orville, began to grow popping corn in 1919, when he was just 12 years old.f By volume, popcorn is America’s favorite snack food.c In ancient times, people would make popcorn by heating sand in a fire and then stirring kernels of popcorn in the hot sand.f When explorer Felix de Azara visited Paraguay in the 18th century, he noted that the people would place kernels on a tassel and then when it was boiled in fat or oil, the grains would burst. Women would adorn their hair at night with the popcorn.f Approximately 70% of popcorn sold in America is eaten in the home. The other 30% is eaten in theaters, stadiums, school, etc.c Unpopped popcorn makes up about 90% of sales for home consumption.c Autumn is the peak time for popcorn consumption, followed by the winter months. Popcorn sales taper off during the spring and summer.c Americans eat more popcorn than any other country. Most of the popcorn eaten around the world is grown in the United States.c Unpopped popcorn kernels are called “spinsters” or “old maids.” Quality popcorn should produce 98% popped kernels with under 2% being spinsters.d While it is a popular story, there is no evidence that Native Americans brought the Pilgrims popcorn at the Thanksgiving dinner. While Native Americans in South America, Central America, and the southwestern region of the U.S ate popcorn, there is no evidence that Native Americans in Massachusetts or Virginia did.f There are six major maize types: pod corn, sweet corn, flour corn, dent corn, flint corn, and popcorn. Popcorn kernels come in three shapes: rice, pearl, and South American. Most commercial popcorn is the pearl type. The major trait shared by all types of popcorn kernels is their ability to explode and create a flake when kernels are exposed to heat.f Contrary to popular belief, popcorn is not the only corn able to pop. Many flint and dent corns also pop, but their flakes are smaller. Additionally, some varieties of rice, milo, millet, and sorghum also pop. Some varieties of quinoa, a sacred Incan food, also pops like popcorn, as does amaranth.f A kernel of popcorn contains just a small amount of water. When these kernels are heated, the water turns to steam and the kernels “pop.” Popcorn is different than many other grains because its shell is not water permeable, making it possible for pressure to build up until the kernel finally explodes.f Microwave popcorn was invented in 1945 An American electronics expert, Perry Spencer, invented microwave popcorn. When he paused in front of a power tube called a magnetron in 1945, he felt a “weird” feeling and noticed that the tube had melted a chocolate candy bar he had in his pocket. He decided to see if it would pop popcorn, which it did.f American businessman Charles Cretors invented large-scale commercial popcorn machines in 1893. His was the first automated machine that could pop popcorn in its own seasonings uniformly.f Evidence in Peru suggests that popcorn existed as early as 4700 B.C., making it one of the oldest forms of corn. Peruvians didn’t just pop their corn; they also ground it into flour to cook in other ways.e The world’s oldest known popper, a shallow vessel with a handle and hole on top was designed around A.D. 300. The first popcorn machine made its debut 1,500 years later at the 1893 World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago.d The Aztecs used popcorn during ceremonies. Several young women would dance a “popcorn dance” with popcorn garlands on their heads. They also used popcorn as decoration for ceremonial headdresses, necklaces, and ornaments on statues of their gods.f While other businesses failed during the Great Depression, the popcorn business thrived. Popcorn sold at around 5 to 10 cents a bag, making it one of the more affordable (and possibly life saving) treats for poor families.f Because sugar was strictly rationed during WWII, candy was not plentiful. Consequently, Americans ate three times as much popcorn during this time as usual.f When televisions became popular in the early 1950s, popcorn sales decreased because people stayed home to watch movies rather than go to a theater. However, when popcorn was more readily available at home, popcorn again became popular.f Popcorn kernels, like those of all cereal, have three major components: the germ or embryo, the endosperm, and the outer hull called the pericarp.b American Indians used to believe that spirits peacefully lived inside each popcorn kernel. When the kernels were heated, the spirits would get so angry that their “houses” would start to shake. When it got too hot, the spirits broke out of their houses in very angry burst of steam.f The oldest ear of popcorn was found in a bat cave in Mexico in 1948. It is believed to be over 5,000 years old.f Grains of popcorn around 1,000 years old have been found in tombs in Peru. The kernels are so well preserved that they can still be popped.e A 1,000-year-old popped kernel of popcorn was found in a dry cave in the southwestern part of Utah.f A 1,700-year-old funeral urn was discovered in Mexico that shows a corn god wearing a popcorn headdress.f Native Americans not only ate popcorn, but they made beer and soup out of it too.f In its true form, popcorn is a healthy snack, even a super food Popped corn contains large amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Among other health benefits, popped corn helps build bones and muscle tissues and assists in digestion. It is also rich in antioxidants (polyphenols). Most of the nutrients are found in the “hull” or shell rather than the fluffy, white part. However, popcorn that has too much butter, oil, or salt compromises its health benefits.d A cup of plain popcorn contains just 31 calories.b Bizarre popcorn flavors include Beer-flavored Pub-Corn, Yo-Pop’s Butterfinger Crunch Popcorn, KukuRuZa’s Buffalo Blue Cheese Popcorn, Popcorn Palace’s Jalapeno popcorn, Jolly Time’s Mallow Magic Yummy Marshmallow Flavor Microwave Popcorn, Popcorn Pavilion’s Brown Butter & Sea Salt Popcorn, Kernel Encore’s Pumpkin popcorn, Popcornopolis’ Cupcake popcorn, and 479˚ Popcorn’s Black Truffle and White Cheddar popcorn.a The scientific name for popcorn is Zea Mays Everta. It is a type of maize, a member of the Maydeae tribe in the large, natural order of grasses called the Graminae.f Native Americans would use dried herbs and spices and even chili as popcorn flavorings.f Popcorn has been sold in theaters since 1912. It has been a big money maker not only because popcorn is overpriced, but also because people usually get thirsty and, consequently, buy sodas or water as well.d In movie theaters, for every dollar spent on popcorn, about 90 cents is profit.d Maize (corn) is the second largest crop in the world, and the largest in the United States. Popcorn is approximately two one-thousandths percent of the total crop.d More than 200 million boxes of Cracker Jack caramel-coated popcorn are consumed every year in the U.S. alone.d The ideal popping temperature for popcorn is 400-460° Fahrenheit. A kernel will pop, on average, when it reaches 347° Fahrenheit.d