Street Food: Heaven on Earth

These days, in many parts of fast developing Asia, what with the endless and mindboggling array of distractions or attractions for our social life, asking pals out for a night of bowling and revelry can get you a yawn emotion response in your smart phone :0. But, tell them that the real intent is to eventually linger over supper, and bond over smoky sticks of chicken stay with little balls of grilled egg yolks sitting atop, at Block S in Jakarta, paired with rock sugared jasmine tea, or perhaps platters of tempura mantis prawns and fried sambal (chilli paste) baby clams bee hoon with refreshingly cold baby coconut water at a Telok Gong corner eatery just outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . . . then you just might get a smiley face response instead.

Food bonds. This is especially so in Asia. And good street food in the region is a religion. If you are so blessed to have friends in the places you visit take you out on local feasting jaunts, then you’ll also know that it’s the secret little street hawker stalls or warung that you’ll end up at, not at some fancy digs. While tucking in, your friends will inevitably tell you stories about just how iconic and meaningful these mum and pop outlets are to them.

If the food culture of a city is one of the better ways to experience a new place as a visitor, then eating like a local is the best souvenir you can take home. You get to eat the food and digest the culture at the same time.

The flavours of Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia, are a heady perfection of fused culinary concepts influenced by the three motherland food nations: China, India and Indonesia.

Just think Mee Goreng, a popular Indian style fried sambal noodles awashed in tantalising red. Noodles never traditionally featured in Indian cuisine but it was the Indian migrants who came, saw and subsequently conquered with their version of fried noodles with accents borrowed from China and Indonesia, complete with wok hei (the distinct whiff of a wok in fried noodles).

Say “Laksa”, and a friendly war on food will erupt between Singapore and Malaysia, the region where the Peranakans, or Straits Chinese, fostered and grew their culture and legacy. Both countries lay claim to the dish’s origins although each has versions not commonly found within the other’s border.

Laksa, in its many incarnations, is a Peranakan culinary icon, one of the few rare dishes of the Nonyas (Peranakan womenfolk), which found its way to the streets years ago.

Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and even Middle Eastern culinary concepts are found easily across Asia. But it was that almost desperate and genius melding of flavours that gave Southeast Asia an exciting edge. Fusion came to its streets way before the word was associated with dining. Today, street food here is a multisensory pleasure. It’s about taste, texture, colour, variety, value, flavours that say “home”, plus basic hygiene, unassuming décor and fast service.

Asians are skilled cooks and standards can be very high. So to be bowled over by street food, a hawker has to dazzle them with technique, speed and flavour. On top of that, the food has to be cheap. So cheap, in fact, that eating out will make more economic sense than cooking at home. It helps if the dishes are comforting, unique or are created with familiar flavours and ingredients.

It’s cheap and easier to eat out in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and even Taiwan. There’s no washing up after eating, no trips to the market to pick up ingredients, no messy food preparations and even better, no parking woes. Put simply, it’s street food heaven on earth!

Check out the best street food in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan in the Reader's Digest June 2011 Food Issue
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