Breakfasts round the world: ASIA
Are you ready to travel through Asian flavors? In the third article about breakfast around the world, today we will discover what you have in the first meal of the day there. The flavors are strong and very different from what we usually eat. Asia is Earth’s largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa.
Philippines
Fruits are the flagship of Filipino breakfast, especially the mango. To keep energy, rice and small sausages, known as longganisa. When they are fried with parsley and garlic cloves, they are called sinangag. This sinangag is combined with eggs, meats and beans.
India
It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. The most popular breakfast consists of roasted potatoes with rosemary, Indian tofu, vegetable sausage, lentils and roasted banana pepper. It is worth remembering that Indian cuisine varies greatly from region to region.
Thailand
It’s known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha. The word for breakfast in Thai is called aahan chow, which means morning food and it covers a wide range of options from little snacks, porridge to Thai omelet (Kai Jiew) or even grilled chicken with sticky rice (khao niew).
Vietnam
Breakfast in Vietnam seems like a rather heavy lunch. The traditional PHO is a kind of soup with various types of exotic meats like tendons, guts and other organs. Also used is a very hot broth of meat and finely chopped pieces of raw meat.
Japan
Japanese cuisine is based on a combination of basic foods, rice or typically noodles with soup and okazu – dishes made with fish, vegetables, tofu and others – to flavor basic foods. A typical Japanese breakfast consists of rice, miso soup, fermented soy (natto), grilled fish, some canned vegetables and a small salad. Although many westerners preferred to skip natto, it is still a healthy and balanced meal
China
It is a country in East Asia and the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1,404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers of planet Earth. The breakfast dishes in China are very different from region to region. Chinese people usually drink soybean milk and eat deep-fried dough sticks, steamed buns, tofu pudding, wheat noodles, or rice noodles for breakfast.
Malaysia
Nasi lemak is a dish of aromatic Malaysian rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. It is commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish. They serve with fried egg, fried chicken, calamari, fish, curries, meat or even vegetables. Kaya toasted, which includes coconut jelly, butter and bread.
Mongolia
Mongolian breakfast is served with pieces of sheep meat cooked with plenty of fat and flour, accompanied by rice. In the western part of Mongolia, the option is usually for horse meat. That’s it! Horse meat.
Korea
Breakfast is quite similar to lunch or dinner in South and North Korea. The meal consists basically of a plate of kimchi (canned vegetables mixed with meat or another seasonal item), a bowl of rice and another with a vegetable soup.
Pakistan
The most common food is Aloo Paratha, a type of unfermented Indian bread that is fried. The dough contains ghee (a class of clarified butter that originated in ancient India) and the bread is stuffed with vegetables. It can be accompanied with butter, chutney or some spicy sauce. A lot of people wet it in tea at lunchtime too.
Next week, we will go to the African continent. Exotic and nutritious, the breakfast of some countries can impress you and, sure enough, will leave you wanting to taste it.